Oops! I forgot the epi-pen! Never know when I’m going to be stung by a pesky bee or wasp.
Always in my purse:
Wallet
Keys
Phone
Something to put on my lips to prevent dryness
Usually in my purse:
An extra diaper or two
A bag to dispose of a dirty diaper
A baggie of clean wipes
Hand santitizer in case a sink and soap aren’t handy
A toy robot
I love that I don’t need a diaper bag when I go out.
I have lots of normal things…odd things:
Travel Chopsticks (metal and washable)
Tweezers (I get these annoying chin hairs and if I notice one when I am out, it will drive me nuts.)
Measuring tape (for shopping. Will that table fit in the hall, kinda thing. Also to solve arguments with the hubby)
Complete first aid kit (if you have a sucking chest wound or a tummy ache, you want my purse around)
pocketknife
wallet
iPod Touch
LED flashlight
revolver
I’m filing this under Things I Didn’t Need To Read While Eating.
If I’m just going out, all I carry is my phone, debit card and maybe some cash, depending on where I’m going. If I’m going to work, I have my work bag with me. Out of the ordinary:
- A Hungarian coin and a Polish coin, reminding me of my travels
- One of those little (ten beads and a cross) rosaries
- A small multi-head screwdriver (I can’t take any form of knife or bladed item to work)
- A mirror, pocket pack of tissues, and toothpicks - no-one wants to be the teacher who should have checked their nose before starting the lesson. Similarly, having something caught in the teeth grosses the kids out and makes them not concentrate.
- Tic-tacs - I remember my teachers always seeming to have bad breath. What was with that? Eat a mint before you lean over my desk, please. Plus I smoke, so it’s just kind.
Guy here:
Pockets:
Cell phone
Knife
ID/Debit/Store discount cards
Pen
Chapstick
Chewing gum
Well, I most often carry a backpack rather than a purse, so there’s that. Within said backpack are the following, roughly from least atypical to most:
*Pocketknife, for when I need a simple hand-tool.
*Notebook with at least two pens, for when I need to write stuff down.
*“Survival whistle” attached to keys, carried primarily to soothe my parent’s paranoia that I’ll be viciously murdered in a town with practically no violent crime. I’ve used the compass and thermometer and mirror and magnifying glass and flashlight on it; never once used it as a whistle.
*Sunscreen. I burn incredibly easily. I live in a high-altitude desert. I get around by walking, biking, and taking the bus.
*Bottle of water, pretty much for the above reasons.
*Oyster card from the London Underground, to remind me that I know for a fact that there’s life beyond this place.
*Library card from a library on the other side of the country, because I still go back there regularly and don’t want to lose it.
*A “magic towel” - the type that’s shrink-wrapped up super-small, with Eeyore on it. Because a towel is the most massively useful thing you can carry; also, sentimental reasons.
*A roughly one-inch long rubber koi, purchased in 2001 at the gift shop at a traditional Japanese garden in Philadelphia.
5 atypical things in my purse:
- drum key
- guitar picks
- bottle of painkiller
- necklace
- inhaler
If I don’t have my purse, I only have my keys, maybe cash, and bags for shit if I’m taking the dogs out.
My purse always has the same things in it, all practical:
Keys
Cash - bills and coins
Organizational system (index-card filing box and small notebook)
Pen and pencil
Reading material
Make-up bag (lotion, primer, foundation, concealer, blush, eye stuff - rarely used)
3 kinds of lip balm
Toiletries bag (tooth brush, tooth paste,hand cream, tweezers, small scissors, nail file, clear nail polish - yes I use all these things away from home!)
Hair-stuff bag (little bottle of olive oil for frizz, hair pins, hair sticks, hair fork)
Sunscreen
Small plastic bags (for dog shit)
Water bottle
And usually a snack or two, I am always eating.