Chapter Nine: Why a bag?

I've found that it is way easier to carry things in a messenger or office-styled bag than, say, in my pants pockets or by hand. I mean, its true that my palm pilot usually fits inside my front jean pockets, but who wants to walk around with a big square bulge in front? And, this doesn't begin to solve the problem of where one should put their cell phone.

There have many times during the last couple of years when it has just been handier to be equipped with a bag. Like Jack Bauer, I often find it necessary to pick something up and place it in my bag. Such as when I am at a public gathering, school festival, or fair where free pens and car-shaped erasers are being handed out. I used to be just like the schmucks I always see in line trying to carry the free stuff away in their pockets or little plastic bags. Last year I had a bag with me to carry the three pounds of candy my kids collected during Halloween. Did I complain when the candy weighed down my bag? No, of course not! As far as I was concerned, my sole responsibility that night was to carry, and perhaps sample, as much candy as my bag would hold.