“Cute bag!”

I love hearing that. It always makes me smile. Don’t you love it when someone says it to you?

I make sure I give the same compliment to others when I spy a beautiful bag. Beautiful color. Beautiful style. Perfect size. A cute bag makes me feel special as does the positive attention that may come with it.

Regardless of how cute a bag is, I always wonder what are they carrying in there? I’m completely curious. I know what I carry around. I know what I can’t be without. However, there is this mystery of what’s in the stylish bag of the person standing next to me. There is a sense of intrigue about the designer bag in the hand of the person walking in front of me, or passing me in the hall.

It’s like the Capital One credit card ad campaigns:  What’s in Your Wallet?

Anyway … I want to know what’s in the big and bold or the small and stately bag just as Capital One wants to know what’s in your wallet. Especially if the bag is small because I don’t understand how someone can live in a bag that’s only big enough to hold cash or lipstick.

So what do I tote around in my bag? The usual or what I think that every woman would take with them:

• Wallet
• Planner (may need to consult my schedule)
• Phone (2 of them … one for work and one personal)
• Make up bag (might need to freshen up)
• Comb
• Digital Recorder (inspiration sometimes strikes in places where paper and pen won’t do)
• Pens (at least 10, maybe more)
• Stationery (just in case I have time to jot a note)
• Notebook (because my planner isn’t for everything)
• Hat (need to be prepared for rain or snow)
• Vitamins (for continued hair growth)
• Sunglasses
• Gum / mints

Okay, I take an “everything but the kitchen sink” approach to bags and that is not all that I carry. Sadly, my handbag is heavier than I’d like to admit. Still, I can’t help but drag these things around with me. Lug may be a better word for it.

Oh and don’t forget about the multiple bag effect either. You know it and have witnessed it:  the person who has a handbag, computer bag, lunch bag, shopping bag, or plastic grocery store bag (pick a combination). As a culture we keep spreading out, building bigger homes to accommodate the amount of stuff we have. Yet, it’s not enough. We feel the need to take it with us where ever we go. We all have baggage.

And now in the age of the man-bag and messenger bags… curiosity increases. What do men need to carry around with them? Their keys and wallets or their phones? An iPad or eReader?

Consider me inquisitive. Call me a busybody but I am dying to know … what’s your baggage?