On a daily basis, I bring in-hand and in a bag:
Keys
Wallet
Lunch
Can of soda
Work ID card
Some CDs for the drive
Ibuprophen
I take an insulated cup of tea to drink on the way, and my card to get in the door . On Mondays, I take a quart of milk to put in the tea I make at work all week.
Student, but I take:
Backpack:
Laptop
Mouse
Network cable
Plug in
pencil case, stuffed with pens, pencils, stapler, staple, eraser and post-it’s
comb
lunch
Any needed textbooks
Several folders for whichever classes I have that day
Notebook
Agenda
phone headset
Whatever book I’m reading right now.
Purse:
wallet
keys
bus pass
smokes
lip gloss
phone
tylenol
and my mug of coffee and MP3 player.
AHunter3 - what the hell?! You should put all that crap on wheels.
If I leave the house with more than a wallet, cell phone, keys (just two keys and the car remote) a pen and train ticket in my pockets, and my building badge and server access token hanging around my neck, there’s something unusal going on.
As for a smart-ass response to the question: What do I take to work? BART, but I used to take the bus.
I like to travel light on a regular day: for work I carry a bag with:
keys
wallet
cell phone
little OQO computer (my laptop/dictionary/ipod/pda)
a pen (or five, they seem to multiply)
smokes and a lighter, if i’m in that kind of phase
sunglasses
earbud headphones
small umbrella during wet season
and sometimes a stripped-down travel scrabble board and tiles.
When summer comes I probably won’t carry a bag at all. I’m not a “purse person.” 