When I was at the Women of Faith conference last weekend, one of the speakers (I can't remember which one) said that when it comes to purses, there are two kinds of women: Stuffers and Sorters. And you know which one you are.
My friend that I go to the movies with the most is a Stuffer. Stuffers have purses that are like black holes. Everything goes anywhere, and you can never find what you need without pulling all the contents out and realizing that you didn't have that item in the first place.
I am a Sorter. Sorters know where everything belongs, and they put it back there, so when they need to find something, they go to the right spot.
It can be either amusing or frustrating to watch the other half deal with her purse. My friend takes her debit card receipts and stuffs them somewhere in her wallet. She also stuffs crumpled dollar bills somewhere in her wallet, so the receipts and cash are comingled and, at the same time, irretrievable. Stuffing makes it quick for her to get away when she's finished paying for something--stuff and go. But the paying takes extra time, while she hunts down her debit card.
On the other hand, for me the Sorter, paying is quick. Pull out the wallet, open the section that has the debit card, hand it over, and put it back. But when the cashier hands me the receipt, I need some time to put my purse back together. The receipt goes in the receipt spot in my wallet, and the wallet needs to go back in the front compartment in my purse, which has three main compartments and a couple smaller zipper-pockets.
My wallet is all alone in its compartment. The back compartment has my 6 x 3" Bible, checkbook, Franklin planner (pocket size), and reading glasses. The middle compartment has a zipper spot for my badge, rearview-mirror-dangling parking permit, and keys. It also has an open pocket I use for my pens and USB 256MB storage stick. The rest of the compartment holds bigger miscellaneous items like lip stuff and travel Kleenex. My cell phone goes in a pocket on the outside, and the other outside pocket holds the little miscellaneous stuff, like gum.
It would be easy to cast aspersions on the other half for being way too unorganized or way too fussy, but that wouldn't be kind. At some point, the way we operate our purses works for us, or we'd do things differently. Besides, I love my friend dearly, and her scattered-purse ways are part of her charm. I only hope the way I operate my purse is just as charming to the other half.
2 comments:
Interestingly, I fit into both categories simultaneously.
My wallet is pretty organized with everything in its own place. I always keep my lipstick and other small essentials like my cell phone in the same compartments, making the outer edges of my purse pretty organized.
Then, there's the bottomless pit of the middle of my purse. I have been known to stuff receipts in haphazardly (usually I'm not intending to keep them anyhow). I often toss in little snack bags for Emily, a hairbrush and other assorted goodies, but none of it is particularly organized.
So, I think I must be partially bi-polar. Sometimes I'm organized, even buying the little organizer purses, other times, I just buy the big one-compartment kind. Hmmmm...
Christina,
Yes, the danger comes when we let ourselves be enticed by the big gaping-maw of a purse because it's so cute. Just remember, the devil disguises himself as an angel of light (or a purse of fashion).
In recent years I've managed to avoid the one-compartment purses altogether. I can't remember what purses I had when I was younger, but that was back in the Victorian era and purses were different then...
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