Messenger Bag or "Murse?" You decide...
So, is this a legit item for a guy to carry, or a man-purse?
Okay, this is something that I've been meaning to post for a while, but this is the first night where I'm not totally coughing my head off (I take that back, I AM coughing, but not as bad as yesterday) and/or managing fallout from the Wisdom Tooth Adventure (pix soon, I promise...). Anyway...
I almost always carry some sort of messenger bag rather than a purse, unless I'm going out clubbing to a place with NO coat check or doing something All Dressed Up Fancy. Between work, reading material, and gym stuff, it just makes more sense than being one of those women on the subway who is always juggling a purse, a separate tote for the gym, and a third bag for Incidental Other Stuff (one urban critic referred to those people as "Yuppie Bag Ladies" but I digress). For the past 3 years or so this has meant a custom-panel Timbuk2 bag similar to the one pictured above. Before that, it was a big-bellied LLBean behemoth.
However, I returned from Berlin with two very funky new bags to rotate in--for the curious, one with swappable top flaps and another one with funky fruit graphics on it.
So, I started to rotate these in to my routine when I got back to the office, much to the oohs and aahs of my more design-savvy co-workers. One slightly older guy, J., is always appreciative of all kinds of urban artsy stuff--his wife works for a major design house, and his office is full of fun and interesting chotchkies and pictures of the two of them wearing much cooler clothes in much cooler-than-office environs. He complimented me on both of my bags as I brought them in, expounded on their nice design, etc...when I noticed that he usually used an old-fashioned hard-sided briefcase.
So, I said, J., why don't you use one of the great bags from your wife's company, or something like one of mine? I went on to say that half the guys at the office have Timbuk2's, etc., and how much easier they are to carry, etc.
"No way, Jen, I refuse to carry a murse."
A what?
"A MAN-PURSE." That's what those are; they're purses for guys. I want to carry a purse, I'll take one out of my wife's side of the closet. I mean, your bags look really cool and all on YOU, but I really want to laugh when I see a guy in a suit with an oversized evening bag across his back. No murse for me!"
Now, I work in a pretty laced-up place, but neoprene messenger bags are a part of the corporate culture pretty much everywhere in Midtown, and everyone from day laborers to CEO's carry Timbuk2s on the N train.
So, dear readers, what do YOU say? Necessary urban storage tool for guys or a misplaced case of womb/containment envy? Tell us whatcha think!
--Jen
posted by Jenonymous @ 1:10:00 AM
