This woman's from Venus

Unloading the old purse, and checking her stuff

Camp Connell, CA-- After decades of careful research I have come to absolutely no conclusions regarding why my wife has to have a new purse.
I have been watching her longer than Jane Goodall lived with her chimps, clearly not a comparable experience, but nothing in my cultural anthropology classes at the University of Michigan explains the apparently routine need to change purses.
I understand what triggered the behavior: we had finished a nice mid-morning breakfast in the tourist town of Murphys with friends Sylvia and Michael, when Pat and Sylvia responded to a shared impulse to shop. "I need a new purse," Pat told her.
It was too early to visit the winery tasting rooms so Michael and I responded to our shared interests by sitting on a bench in sun and watch the people wander by.
About 30 minutes later they appeared with small shopping bags in hand. Mission accomplished.
Pat's new purse is smaller than the old one, more compact, and with a lot more pockets and sleeves to hold things with.

The old purse was purchased before we went on vacation because she needed something bigger for travel. It was a nice collection of muted Fall colors.

The new purse is red/orange, and it is "important" that it is brighter to help us brighten the winter. As Pat worked to move everything into the new purse she said, quietly, to herself, "I am not sure this purse is going to work. Bummer."
Going over the contents

When we got home Pat spread the contents on the dining table and made the change-over. Here is an inventory of the old purse' contents:
-- A wallet (no longer needed);
-- A fold-out plastic photo/card sleeve (no longer needed);
--A Starbucks card;
-- Cell phone;
-- Aria (local bakery) gift coupon;
-- Calaveras Library card;
-- Oakland Yacht Club membership card;
-- Credit cards;
-- Debit cards;
-- Medicare card;
-- AAA insurance and membership cards;
-- Calaveras Big Trees Association card;
-- Dental appointment cards (2);
-- Two key chains linked together with a carbiner and 12 keys;
-- Receipts;
-- Safe Deposit key;
-- Lipstick;
-- Tissues;
-- Deodorant;
-- Notes on the Mediterranean diet;
-- A postage free post card for "Discover" magazine;
-- A "proposed treatment plan" from our dentist for getting a cavity filled;
-- Two "to do"lists, one for Nov. 10 and one for Nov. 12;


The new purse, ready to go
She was able to get everything in, though it was a tight fit. She walked around with the new purse on her shoulder for a while, and then said: "I may have to take it back."

While I was typing this, she quietly unloaded the efficient pretty new red purse and put everything into a nice older green/brown purse that was apparently stored wherever old purses are stored.

I have no opinion about that.

UPDATE: The new red purse was returned, without prejudice, to the store on Sunday and exchanged for a new one, the same color, "just a little bit bigger."