Goin' Euro

Well, now I've done it. I've finally gone over the edge. Today when I was out walking around, I bought...a travel bag. OK, let's be honest--it's a man-purse (I used to refer to it as a European man-purse, but since everyone in Tokyo seems to have one, it appears to have broader appeal). When we were in Barcelona, Gretchen had seen something like it and suggested that it would be very practical when I'm traveling since I'm always trying to carry a bunch of stuff and end up either loading my pockets or having to carry a clunky backpack. But no, I insisted, I wasn't about to buy a freakin' man-purse! (Of course, she was self-interested because when we travel together, I end up giving her a bunch of stuff to carry around in her purse.) So today I was trying to haul around a guidebook, a language translator, an umbrella (which I at one point dropped down the escalator at a department store, nearly hitting a bunch of old people who initially looked horrified but then smiled when they realised it was just a clumsy gaijin...at least I said I was sorry). So when I was shopping in Shibuya and saw a man-purse of the sort Gretchen wanted me to get, I broke down and bought it (really, it's much more like a cross between a backpack and a fanny pack). And you know what? Hauling my crap around the rest of the day was much more convenient, even if I had to carry a man-purse to do it. Not that there's anything wrong with that.