From The Storyteller
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Oct. 6, 2019, Purse
“Never send a man to buy a woman’s purse.” I’m thinking these words while standing at the Target returns desk with purse and receipt in hand. It has been two hours since the purchase was made. The young lady behind the desk nods, smiles and reimburses my credit card. Elaine is busy selecting a different purse, and I believe I’ve identified the first sentence to a new story. Over our morning coffee I share my “never send a man” idea with Elaine. She immediately gets a worried look on her face. I’m thinking guys and gals think differently about clothes, and she’s thinking about the folks who struggle with gender identification issues. She gently explains what it is. I get it, and recognize how I could unintentionally be stepping on “toes” of some of my readers. I am conflicted. I don’t want to step on the “toes” of others, yet I’m a right-handed, straight, old, white guy, who grew up on the south side of Chicago. I’ll never be female, black, brown, yellow, gay, tall, or left-handed, and so my ability to understand their struggles is really limited. Seven words from a line in a “Dirty Harry” movie come to mind, “A man’s got to know his limitations”. Each of my weekly stories shares something from my life that hopefully you might relate to, and bring a smile to your face. My personal, purse buying story is all mine, and since my conversation with Elaine I’ve spent a considerable amount of time thinking about it. Ultimately I realized my thoughts while standing in line at Target had one word wrong, and needed a slightly modification to be more accurate. It should have been, “Never send THIS man to buy a woman’s purse.” Moral: One word does make a difference. |