The End of My Quest: Why the Perfect Handbag Doesn’t Exist
The End of My Quest: Why the Perfect Handbag Doesn’t Exist
After a lifetime of searching for the ideal purse to carry all my essentials, I’ve come to a realization: the perfect handbag is a myth. Let me explain why.
The Myth of the Perfect Handbag
I haven’t given up because I’m tired of looking. Quite the opposite, I thrive on challenges. However, I’ve realized that the perfect handbag—a single, all-purpose bag that can take me from the local supermarket to a fancy restaurant in New York City—simply doesn’t exist.
The Problems with Multiple Handbags
Using more than one handbag can lead to disasters. Who hasn’t locked themselves out of their house, car, or office because their keys were in the other bag? My worst handbag disaster happened in New York. I was researching a novel and had to take a bus to the Hamptons, where I planned to rent a car and drive to Shelter Island.
I transferred everything from my trusty handbag to a backpack. But when the bus conductor asked for my fare, I realized I had left my credit card in the other bag. Luckily, I had cash for the ticket, but I couldn’t rent the car. I ended up borrowing an old bicycle and cycling around the Hamptons in the scorching sun with everything plus the kitchen sink in my backpack. To make matters worse, I got sunburned. And to top it all off, when I got home, I found the credit card in an outside pocket of the backpack.
The Reality of Handbag Limitations
The perfect handbag will never hold all the normal things plus a computer, a notebook, a hat, and the sunscreen you should always take with you. It’s a no-win situation. Since then, I’ve broken down the handbag situation. I now have a smaller across-the-shoulder bag that just has the essentials. If I need anything else, I take a tote, which everything falls out of the moment it falls on its side, which is all the time.
The Triumph of the Smaller Bag
The smaller across-the-shoulder bag has been something of a triumph for the past three or four years. But now that I have a puppy, it’s being stuffed with leads, poop bags, bone-shaped rawhide, and bits of dried chicken liver. Also, for reasons I can’t quite explain, the last two times my partner lost his car keys, he found them with the chicken liver. And once, his wallet.
Accepting the Imperfection
I guess I’ve pretty much reached the stage where if it’s not tied down, it goes into the bag. But I now know that swapping it for something bigger won’t be the answer. The puppy will grow up, and I won’t need the rawhide. Computers will be replaced by something the size of your fingernail, and my partner will get his own man bag. Although the former will happen far sooner than the latter.
In conclusion, the perfect handbag is a myth. It’s better to accept this and find a practical solution that works for your current lifestyle.
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