Tuesday, February 27, 2007

...Or Are You Just Happy To See Me?

I like to be prepared. We've been over this before. If I was, say, accidentally lost in the wilderness during my day-to-day travels, I'd be set. I carry with me a large-ish messenger-style bag, and my pockets are always full.

Here's what I have with me today:

JACKET
Left pocket:
misc. change ($0.46)
1 USM Card
1 missed appointment card from the oil change place
1 thin plastic produce bag
1 unused brown paper napkin, folded

Right Pocket:
1 container eye drops, mostly empty
asst. change ($0.68)
1 pack of gum, 3/4 empty
1 cell phone with rainbow heart sticker
3 gum wrappers
1 minty wad of chewed gum wrapped in a gum wrapper
1 chapstick

BAG
Distributed throughout various pockets & zippered compartments:
1 bottle ibuprofen with two tablets inside
1 inhaler
1 tampon
1 multi-tool in cool canvas holder
1 tin ginger mints
1 checkbook
1 chapstick
1 hand lotion
2 cinema gift certificates
1 old paper mainecare card
1 business card for nomia
2 pens
3 lactaid chewables
2 packets of ginger tea
4 pieces of nicotine gum
1 empty nicotine gum wrapper
3 more lactaid chewables
1 nametag from my January MFA residency with my last name spelled wrong and indicating that I'm from Lake Charles, LA
6 more pieces of nicotine gum
1 more empty nicotine gum wrapper

And in the large middle section:
1 box of organic, unbleached tampons
8 old paystubs rubber-banded together
1 plastic container in which I brought my lunch, now dirty since my lunch is eaten
1 day planner
1 notebook/diary, orange
1 bundle paperwork from my health insurance company, folded
1 legal size notepad
1 recipe for braised cabbage with brown onions
1 past-due credit card bill
1 photocopied piece of erotic Nancy Drew flash fiction
1 red pen
1 wallet
assorted pieces of paper from the department of health and human services, folded
1 tiny composition book
1 stick of deodorant
1 letter from my mentor from last semester
1 reading list from last semester, folded into quarters

From this list, one could gather that I have some digestive difficulties, am trying not to smoke, possibly that I write, and definitely that I have some insecurities about my body.

What's in your pocket right now? What do you carry with you every day? De-lurk yourself and tell me.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Holy wow J.
Uhm. Ok. I feel so inadequate now, but here goes.

left pocket of jeans: Whole foods receipt, napkin for drying lip ring spittle.

right pocket: .53 cents.

back pocket right, wallet
back pocket left: two dollars

Jacket pocket right: small listerine bottle, cell phone

jacket pocket left: 2 lighters, gum wrappers.

Anything more than that? That's why I have a wife who carries a bag.

bec said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
bec said...

pockets: keys, cloth handkerchief, chap stick, possibly a grocery list from last week. wallet (in back pocket or backpack): very few dollars, a piece of green ribbon, a list of reccomended books, my maine drivers license, and my debit, credit, safeway, EBT, and library cards.

lives in my backpack: digital camera (plus usb cable and extra battery), earbud headphones, cell phone, mechanical pencil and extra lead, pen, permanent marker, watch, elastic band, spoon, usb stick, ginger chews, old lists, cloth napkin, cloth grocery bag, re-used plastic bag(s) for bulk food, 16oz nalgene of water or tea, gloves, u-lock for my bike, red blinky bike light.

If I'm going to work, it will also have my laptop in its sleeve, my laptop's power cable, my cd/dvd case (with blanks and backups), four manilla folders, a tupperware of leftovers and a piece of fruit.

I would carry a pocket knife, but then I couldn't go into the nearby post office. When I am wearing my bike helmet, there is a flashlight taped to it.

I'm prepared for information exchange, picnicing, grocery shopping, and little else. If someone gets hurt, I can, um... administer usb technology? May I note, also, that "bag-aged" tampons freak me out? because they're always linty and smooshed?

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