nah, I just carry around a wet pouch filled with plague.
The pouch is very sexy though!
There’s more to a handkerchief’s uses than snot-soaking. I use it to dry my hands if I’m not near a towel, or to clean up a minor spill.
A handkerchief works better than a napkin for wiping off fast-food grease in the car. It also feels better, less scratchy than a cheap napkin.
I can’t remember the last time I saw “ladies” handkerchiefs in a store. My mom had a bunch that were hand-embroidered, but I don’t recall ever seeing her use them. My dad still uses them.
I’m turned off by them, myself. I don’t want to carry snot around in my purse if I can avoid it. I do find them pretty, though.
I started using them about 10 years ago. They’re not common in professional environments – or at least among lawyers. When I first started carrying a handkerchief, a couple friends of mine made terrible fun of me. Now they both carry them as well.
–Cliffy
I’ve carried handkerchiefs for as long as I can remember.
What else would you use to clean your glasses? Paper tissues/towels scratch plastic lenses, and it is just gauche to use your shirttail.
I use pre-moistened towelettes specifically made for cleaning eyeglasses.
I have year around allergies - better some seasons than others, but always there. I carry paper tissues everywhere, keep boxes of tissues in every room, in the car, and at the office, and I throw them out after use.
A handkerchief would soon be disgusting.
I bought a package of 5 at Brooks Brothers about 12 years ago (I had been given a gift certificate for the store as a gift). Those suckers are really nice & just get softer with age. I carry one in my back pocket every day at work, and sometimes on the weekends.
People keep commenting about how they don’t want to carry their snot around with them, but it’s better than being without one and snotting all over your hands (or worse). I’ve been in meetings or at work with someone who lets out a big sneeze into his hands and unexpectedly filling it with snot. Most professional men (generalization here) don’t carry boxes or little packages of Kleenex around with them, so when you feel a sneeze coming, whip out the ol’ hankie. Women (here’s another one) tend to stow something in their purse.
That said, I do keep a box of tissues at my desk. But I’m not always at my desk. Also, unless I was to shave every two hours, my whiskers shred the hell out of tissues, especially the Aloe-infused kind. So when I use one I have to find a mirror to make sure I get all the tissue flakes off my face.
I can avoid all of that with a handkerchief. Get home & toss it in the hamper.
I’m 42, by the way.
I have a hankie in my back pocket as I type this. I have a slight cold at present, and you get that clear, snotty dribble from the nose that you need to blot at periodically. A tissue isn’t really up to a whole day’s usage. If I wanted a full bodied nose blow, I’d find a tissue. For ongoing drip catching though, the handkerchief is better.
When not sick, do not carry.
I find that even when I’m not sick, they’re useful to have around. When I’m dealing with allergies, for example.
My 65-year-old father-in-law uses one. I don’t have a problem until he tries to use it to wipe up my kids’ face and hands after it’s been used for snot. He’s gotten my boys sick on more than one occasion by doing that.
(Or it would appear as such … Papaw sneezed into hanky, used to wipe boy’s face, boy was sick the next day.)
I think back in the day, people would carry two; one for themselves and one to offer up to someone else in need.
I carry them a good bit, though more for sweat than snot. Why in the world we Southerners insist on having numerous formal outdoor affairs in the summer is beyond me. Northerners come in from the cold, why can’t we come in from the heat?
I still carry handkerchiefs, though for blowing my nose I prefer tissues.
I carry two. One for snot-realted issues and the other for any other thing (usually wiping one of my kids faces).
Kleenex is for wusses, not paper can contain the fury of my nose.
I found a bunch of boxed ones in my grannie’s effects and used them the next time I had a cold- so much nicer than tissues; softer, sturdier, do not disintegrate in the hand. But I haven’t seen too many good quality ones to buy- I usually pick up a box of men’s hankies at Winners when they are on nice and cheap.
(I carry them in my purse & pocket for sneeze emergencies, and they hit the hamper once used. They’re much easier to locate in the purse jumble when required. Age 44)
My dad always carried two, one for the nose and one for the glasses, basically. My mom apparently moved on to tissues before I ever knew her, but she was taught early on to carry two, “a shower and a blower”.
I’m tempted to put one into my purse, just in case, as I never seem to have a tissue around when I need one while I’m out.
My husband carries one, and on a bad day, sometimes two. Usually he goes through maybe one a week.
I think there are still some in my mom’s dresser drawer. I should snag a couple…they’re actually a very comforting memory for me.