Purse Smurse

I am a purse designer or purse maker's absolute worst nightmare. I don't care about purses. It almost took an act of Congress to ever get me to carry one. I swear I was the very last girl in my class in school back in the Stone Age to even want to carry a purse.

However, due to the necessity of social convention, I have learned to carry one. As a mom, apparently there is a prerequisite to being the keeper of all stuff for the kids. Now that the kids are grown and on their own, the purse is the keeper of all my stuff. I carry one out of habit.

I dislike purse shopping just about as much as I dislike jean shopping. Honestly I would rather have a root canal and I have had a dozen or so of those. When my recent purse was literally falling apart on me, I had to look for another purse.

Now, my girls have entirely different attitudes about purses. They relish them. They use them to accessorize outfits. They like to have fashionable handbags. This bit of fashion sense must have skipped right past me.

Shopping for a new handbag is torture. First, I don't like paying more for a bag than I do for shoes. Shoes are practical. You need them to cover the feet in all kinds of weather. Purses -- they just carry stuff. Really, I need something for the phone, the checkbook and the pictures of the grandbaby. What else do I need?

Here in the last while, my kids have instructed me to get a purse that 'pops'. That is code for flashy. I still gravitate toward the cost effective or last season's marked down bags when I am shopping. But I had not found one dull enough or cost effective enough.

However, I should also know not to mention I need a purse when one of them is shopping with me. I knew I needed a new bag since my other was falling apart. I liked my non-descript grayish- black bag. It had flashy purple-ish lining which matched my phone and my checkbook cover. Flashy on the inside. Blends in on the outside. It was a perfect purse except it fell apart.

The most recent purse purchase was an ultimate pop. It is a bright coral color with a silky striped lining. I wanted a grey one but younger daughter would not have any of it. She actually told me it would have been acceptable to carry a yellow (I said mustardy) colored bag or the coral color bag. I could at least choose one or the other.

I have learned not to argue with the fashion sense of my daughters. They are usually correct. I purchased outside my comfort zone. I got the really, really bright colored bag.

It was my summer purse I kept telling myself. (Really, what does that mean exactly -- again -- a purse is a purse is a purse?) Yes, I have a case of buyer's remorse. I am probably the only female in the country that feels badly for a purse purchase. However, I am doing my best to attempt to embrace the choice. Who knows, this could even be a favorite by next year.