real women think femininity is bs. ;)

It was a dark and stormy nite...no, wait.

Oh yeah. It was a day like any other. I was in line at the grocery store with my four-year-old son. I had to get into my purse/pocketbook for something before the man in front of me checking out was finished. What was I looking for? I don't remember anymore.

I had to get past:

my wallet (huge)
my checkbook (even though I had my ATM card in my wallet)
a tampon
3 pens
a small pack of tissues
ticket stubs from a movie I'd been to 3 weeks earlier
my sunglasses in their case
a shopping list (from some other lost time)
a matchbox car (pick-up truck)
a scrunchie (I didn't even have long hair anymore)
a granola bar (in case of a 4-yr-old's snack attack)
a package of (crushed) peanut butter crackers (see above)
a hairbrush
a cassette tape of Huey Lewis & the News
a lottery ticket (loser)
a list of unfamiliar e-mail addresses with no names
$7.35 in change on the bottom (when I finally got there)

The man in front of me reached into his back pocket (no, I was NOT staring) and took out his wallet, pulled out some bills, and put the wallet back. When the cashier handed him his change he shoved it all in a front pocket and was out the door.

I thought: Why don't men need pocketbooks and women do?

Answer: Women don't.

I went out and bought a new wallet, a small one, one that would fit in my back pocket. I cut my hair shorter so I wouldn't need a brush. If I need a check, to pay for a doctor's visit or somesuch, I rip one out at home and take it with me. Otherwise I use my ATM card or...*gasp*...cash.

He did it, so can I.

Now, I have never been what you would call a 'feminine' type woman anyway. I have no make-up. I rarely wear skirts, and when I do they're the loose, flowy kind. The kind you can wear work boots under if you want to. I own ONE dress, it is my 'going to funerals or weddings' dress. And I usually wear something else anyway. I live in blue jeans and comfortable pants. Guys do. For a reason. You have to work hard to get your jeans caught in the car door. You don't have to worry about the wind. You know, things like that. Hey, don't take my word for it. Ask your husband/boyfriend/brother. Ask him. Go ahead. "Why don't you wear a skirt and carry a purse?" See what he says.

Now, granted I am not Kathy Ireland (or whoever the current flavor of the month is) but I am a woman. My husband still thinks so. (He adjusted, a bit painfully, but still, pain is good for training...) You see, husbands depend on their wive's purses. To put their keys in when you get to the amusement park, or to hold their sunglasses, or a can of beer....

Maybe more of a woman, because the non-essentials have put put aside and I can concentrate on other, more important things. And I have a LOT more time....

So tell him...get your own purse, dammit. I'm a real woman, and I don't carry one anymore.