Just in Case

I was sitting at the gate at the airport waiting for my flight.  I looked enviously at the lady sitting across from me.  She had a purse.  That's it.  A small purse.  I compared that with what I had with me: a large carry on full of stuff, a big purse full of stuff, a pillow, a water bottle, and a book.  How does she do it?  It's almost beyond comprehension to me that someone could get on a plane with only a small purse.  I go prepared for every eventuality.  I have a pillow and blanket for comfort, a magazine and a book- so I can switch off if I'm bored, an ipad with books and movies downloaded, snacks in ziploc bags, a peanut butter sandwich (I always take one.  I hardly ever eat it- but just in case), extra underwear, a swim suit, an extra shirt (all  just in case my checked bag doesn't come), a water bottle, plus all the regular stuff I carry in my purse- oh, my purse- wait til I tell you about my purse!  All for "just in case."
I blame Monty Hall.   When I was a girl, I loved to watch "Let's Make a Deal"  Remember that part when Monty would say, "$100 to someone who has a safety pin!"  Or $50 to someone who has a paper clip," etc.  I think that's where all this "Just in case" business started for me.  So in the 50 some years since then, I've carried a purse loaded with safety pins, paper clips, band aids, pain killer, every kind of emergency medication, soap, anti- bacterial liquid, toilet seat covers and Lysol wipes, Neosporin, blister pads, tissues, scissors, snacks, etc, etc,  I could go on.  But you get the picture. Not even once has anyone offered me money for anything that's in purse- not even once. But still I carry it all around.  I've long said that if you have to get in a lifeboat, you want to get in the same boat as me.  We can sustain life for days with what is in my purse.  And it's all  Monty Hall's fault.
This is the rebuttal to the last mantra post I did, which was a year ago!  (Oh, dear!)  It was my sermon on the blog about preparation.  But even I admit, one can be TOO prepared.  And I'm afraid this obsession can be inherited.  I found that out a couple of years ago when we had our oldest granddaughter, Brielle coming to stay with us for a few days.  We were so excited and I was discussing with her on the phone what we would do when she came:  "We'll go swimming and to the park and Grandpa and I will take you to Pirate's Pizza."
"Do they have ice cream there?" she asked.  "I'm not sure," I answered.  "Well,  maybe we could take some with us, just in case!" I laughed and laughed at the image of us lugging a cooler full of ice cream to Pirate's Pizza- just in case!  But then I thought of my airplane carry on and realized it wasn't much different!  Sorry, posterity!  Well, at least now you have someone to blame it on (me . . . and Monty Hall, of course!)  But maybe you'd better copy and save this post- JUST IN CASE you forget!

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