Sunday 27 May 2012

Handbag Personalities

You should never look in a woman's handbag, right?
Well, that shouldn't be a general rule any more, because you can tell an awful lot about a person through the contents of their handbag.

After reading a couple of blogs on the contents of handbags, I've come to the conclusion that there are four main types of people, and it's all to do with the state of their handbags:

The Compartmentalists.
If you have a nose through these people's handbags, you'll find that everything has its place. They may even have a bag organiser. They generally have bags filled with compartments, and every compartment is utilised. Tissues in one pocket, pens in another, phone in the phone pocket and an organiser wherever it will fit. If there aren't enough pockets in the bag, there will be even smaller bags inside. Sometimes they put tupperware in too.

These people are meticuously organised. They probably hoover on a daily basis and arrive early to everything. Treat with care.

The Interchangers.
Have a peep inside their bag and it'll look like everyone elses, only with less stuff in. Why? Because every day these lot will chop and change their items according to their needs. On a rainy day, when they're ill, they will have an umbrella. paracetamol, tissues and other pharmaceuticals along with the essential keys, phone, purse and lip balm combo in a leather number. But see their bag on a sunny day and it'll be a lighter material, with sunglasses, sun lotion, water and anything else they think they'll need.

Super-organised to the point of being a bit weird and practical, these people do everything they're meant to be doing and always seem to be on top of stuff.

The Mary Poppinses.
If there's one way to tell who is a Mary Poppins, it's their bag. It will be messy, disorganised and big. But everything has a reason to be there. My sister is one of these, and you can tell by the amount of 'just in case' items that she has; tissues, coffee sachets, paracetamol, plasters, batteries, hay fever tablets and a mutitude of pens all have a place in her bag, even when no-one is ill and she doesn't have her camera.

This group are pretty much your saviour when you need something a bit weird. Don't have any tweezers? not a problem (though they may not have a kitchen sink in there). They're not so organised so may be rummaging for a while, but they'll get there. Their bags are also so big that you can put your extra stuff in theirs if you need to.

The Hoarders.
Can be mistaken for Mary Poppinses. But you'll know when you have a good look in their bag that they are not what they seem. Empty paracetamol packets and sweet wrappers sit at the bottom of their bag, right next to a small fire's worth of receipts. This lot are notorious for not chucking things out of their bag, so may have random items like Happy Meal toys and leaflets.

If you live with this handbag type, you'll soon know about it. They probably don't take the bins out very often and have items strewn over most surfaces. One good thing? They could have stuff that you need in there too, though whether that's on purpose or an accident you will never know.

The Pocketers.
In other words, men. Or women who are just going to the local shop. This group are travel-light most of the time. They'll carry only the essentials; keys, wallet/purse, phone... and maybe a pack of chewing gum. Easy to spot due to their loss of bag.

They're very laid back, and don't see the point in carrying things around so may also be a tad lazy. But they do always have free hands, which come in useful when you're too busy holding your own bags.

And me? I'm an interchanger - Every night I change my bag and its contents for the following day. It depends on weather, what I'm doing, how far I'm walking and how I'm feeling. Here's my bag contents:

This lot covers nearly every eventuality: I've left my sunglasses at home-home because I'm an idiot.
Essentials: Purse, keys, phone, microgynon, brush, mirror, headache cure, hand sanitiser, lip balm, lipstick x2, water, hair tie, pen (and most of these go in the little black bag)
Not so essential: Diary, tissues, umbrella, batteries (why?), other cards (this includes my trusty railcard and my Waterstones card), and my sunglasses, when I have them.

Which type are you?