This is for just a little throwaway moment in my upcoming fic, but I'd like to ask the purse-owners out there:

What's the weirdest, or oddest thing that is now, or has been, in your purse?

A stethoscope. A reflex hammer. An otoscope. But then again, I'm a med student.

Non-medicine-related, I'd have to say one of those stress-reliever squishy things, shaped like a cow, with spots and udders and everything. Oh, and once I had two shot glasses in it. Didn't feel like carrying a stupidly small bag around all day.

Wait - the best one was a squirrel call. I kid you not. Kinda like a bird call, but for squirrels. Appropriate, huh?

Let's see, a pocket tool, doggy doo bags, doggy treats (I have a dog, okay?) 2 bottles of aspirin, tape measure, compass, TP, folding scissors, wire ties, space blanket, hand warmer, other people's business cards, calculator, note pad, cell phone, iPod.

Phoebe had a goldfish and a shoe...

Me?

Um...

No, um...

Well...

Do old receipts count? Gift cards? One earring?

No?

Well, that's about the oddest thing I got...

Carol

I usually have an exacto knife and double-sided tape in my purse. Sometimes glue-stick. (I'm a graphic designer. ) Oh and some little dinosaurs from a pinata we popped at least 2 years ago.

JD

Now if you'd asked about the diaper bag...

Missed the 'ever' thing.

But still not coming up with anything - will have to ponder that...

A pregnancy test!

I buy them often at the dollar store (that third child is not wanting to come into existence) and I left one in my purse for over a month. I had forgotten about it until a few days ago when I was looking through my purse at work.

My manager thought it was funny.

Vials with old chemistry experiments in them. One was coper and one was purified aspirin iirc....

Now my mother... a collection of little plastic martini swords... flu shots...

Oh, my goodness, I get teased about carrying the kitchen sink in my purse. Ever been to one of those wedding or baby showers when they see who has everything in their purse on the pre-prepared list? I always win.

I can't think of the weirdest thing I ever had in my purse, but let's see - right now, I have a hemostat in my purse (great for getting those paper jams out of printers but I can't let the kids I take care of see them because they'd immediately think of something else), I have dental floss in my purse, a couple of eye patches and I think I still have the one with the skull and cross bones on it that I used at Halloween. I have 'office supplies' in my purse - paper clips, etc. I haven't, at least, carried a stapler in awhile. I have been known to carry stethoscopes, blood pressure cuffs, and back in the days when nurses still wore those silly caps - my cap.

Okay, EDIT: I just thought of the weirdest thing ever in my purse (but not on purpose). When I lived in Puerto Rico, I had the misfortune of sitting my purse on or near a spider egg sac ready to 'hatch'. I had 100's of itty bitty spiders in my purse. I hate spiders, but I must admit having to face them like that took some of my fear away. I guess it's a good thing I found them fairly quickly though, because otherwise, I might have had our resident 10 inch lizard in my purse - he/she loved an easy meal.

I had to empty the entire bag before I got rid of it!

<shudders> I hate cockroaches!

Hmmm...

Tweezers. A mini stereo jack converter. Batteries.

A finger puppet. (A mouse named Mr. Whitey, before he turned grey). I'm sure there've been computer-related bits in there, but I can't think of any off-hand, other than my flash drive.

And my wife wonders why I refuse to look in her purse for anything.

Yeah, I had to do that, too. And I also hate roaches. In Puerto Rico, they were HUGE (thanks to the lizards for eating them). Once there was one on the ceiling of the car I was in and I got so freaked out I tried to get out - with the car moving. Thank goodness for seat belts and the person in the back seat grabbing me.

Somethings I've had in my purse that aren't usual would be a pair of pliers. My headlight was out and I can't get it out to replace without using pliers. Then when I travel I carry a pretty big purse so since I wanted to take my camera gear on as my carry on I stuck several days worth of under garmets and the barest of make-up in my purse.(Friends had suggested this since the airline had lost their luggage for a day or two) Of course as Murphy's Law must kick in I was pulling my wallet out at the car rental desk and the underwear started coming out also. The woman at the desk had a good laugh but said she had seen similar things before. Next time I made sure to have room in my camera bag to put the underwear.

I don't find it so unusual what most women carry but I've heard some men ask women for some unusual things just assuming we carry everything in the word in our purses. I had a guy ask me for a screw driver once. Hey I carry tools in my car but not my purse. Do you guys have any idea how heavy a purse is with standard stuff.

I don't know how weird this is, but at various times I've carried a screwdriver, a Superman S-image flashlight as well as my mag flashlight, a laser pointer, a tire-pressure gauge, the fold-up keyboard for my PDA, various office supplies like magic markers and a stapler, mosquito stick and repellent.... I don't think you can count the stuff I shoved in for a moment to get from one place to another: a sandwich, a soft drink, a DVD, videotape, and CD, as well as various folders. And, yes, this was my purse, not a brief case or tote. Never had bugs of any kind, though...

My brother sent me an actual lock pick, which is currently in my purse. After visiting my son's family, I found one of my grandson's toy cars and a child's sock in my purse, and yesterday I fished a 4 day old fortune cookie out of it. I also have a very nice led flashlight, as well as a Buck folding knife, in it, but I consider that standard equipment. Does that qualify?

Nan

How about a toothbrush?

I carry a very small purse with the idea that when one of the kids ask me to carry something I can tell them, "No. There's no room."

In my pockets, however, I make sure that I carry eight pony tail holders all summer long.

I try to keep everything I need in my purse without any extras. I always have a brush, identification, a check book, a pen, an emergency supply of feminine hygeine, lipstick, foundation, rouge, and a small scissors. Rarely is there cash, but that isn't because of space limitations.

But I never leave home without a toothbrush. I just hate to get food inside my horn...


Elisabeth
PS MIL always carried a roll of toilet paper.

I have a combination lock and a pack of paper clips. They come in handy at work.

There are some small shells and beads from a bracelet that broke over the summer in a small compartment... Perhaps it's time to take those out.

I also usually put my trash in my purse or pocket when there's no bin around, so various little paper bags and candy wraps.

Julie

Well, in winter time, I usually stuff all the stuff into the pockets of my jacket. I hipe that counts, too. Right now, there are some chewing gums, the papers that were left behind from said chewing gums, a pen, a sheet of paper with an address on it that I really don't want to visit, a piece of the lantern my daughter made in kindergarten (it fell off, and it somehow ended up in my pocket).

And whenever I go somewhere knowing I'll have ample time for my hobby, I take with me a not yet finished friendship bracelet, two or three safety pins (one or two for fastening the bracelet, one for untying wrong knots), scissors, extra thread (in case I run out of a color) and, of course, a piece of paper with the current design on it. Fortunately, most of the time I only have to pack all the bracelet-making stuff into my backpack.

Then, again, I have another safety pin in my wallet (just in case I need one and don't have one with me). Additionally, I carry two beading needles around in it. The problem is that they always get lost when I put them somewhere at home, so I decided that my wallet would be the best place to keep them...

This reminds me of that episode of Mad About You where the successful sister and the unsuccessful sister get their purses mixed up. The unsuccessful sister has a wonderful day and gets a high-paying job with the organized, well-packed purse. The successful sister finds that her life is ruined with the wrong purse.


Elisabeth

Wow! Thanks for the replies, everyone! I didn't know this topic would spark so much interest but it has. If one's purse reveals much about her then many of us are very very interesting folks! (or FoLCs, ha ha).

All of this for one little throwaway line in the fic....thanks everyone.

A screwdriver isn't that odd. I keep a swiss army knife in my purse at all times. The screwdriver has come in handy at work!

I know something else odd I found in my purse. I was visiting my family this summer, and my step-brother was playing with my purse while at my grandmother's. We got back from vacation and I emptied out my purse, and I found a catnip mouse that I knew I'd seen at Grandma's! I was tempted to mail it back, but my kitties love it so.

Our nurse practitioner today told me that she had strep throat test doohickeys at home for some reason [she's not sure why]. Surely they were in her purse at some point...?

Carol

I used to be such a pack rat. However, I learned the hard way not to carry butter packets around in my purse. I don't carry Jam or sugar anymore either, though thankfully that's not due to similar disasters.

I also have one of those things that you strap to a bike in order to carry food or something. It's folded up and stuffed in my purse for some reason.

There also used to be a deck of cards, though I suppose that's more sensible by comparison.

Then there's a set of teeny tiny tools, which I still can't think of the use for.

Oh, and guitar strings, still in the wrappers. That actually came in handy once! A guitar pick, as well (a few, actually). Broken pitch-pipe, too.

At my mother's workplace they charge money for forks, knives and spoons if you buy certain items but are included for free if you order other items. It's a silly system, but it drives her nuts so she started carrying those plastic packs of utensils in her purse. They went to a party and their table won a pie, but they didn't have any plates or utensils to eat it with. So they ran into the bathroom to get some towels while Mom dug around in her purse. Some people did end up using a knife to eat their pie, but she found enough odds and ends for the whole table to have something. Then the second place winners wondered where they got the utensils from, so they washed them off to share. I know, I'm rambling off topic again. But since I don't seem to care so much...


Elisabeth