The original story appeared in the Voice of the Hill, October 2004.
You know … almost everyone in DC carries a bag. Lots of people carry two or more. Look around and you will see what I mean, particularly on Metro in the morning, my favourite people watching venue.
Young professional women carry the most bags. An early twenty-something woman leaves her apartment Monday morning with a handbag draped on one shoulder (it may or may not coordinate with today’s outfit because she can’t yet afford a fleet of different coloured bags), a slightly beat up gym bag also hung over one shoulder and looped across her chest (because she is determined to hit the gym today since she needs to lose 5 pounds by Saturday evening when she wants to wear her tight jeans when she goes out for drinks with the girls), a mini pink Victoria’s Secret shopping bag with her lunch tucked inside is clutched in one hand. On the menu is either leftover pizza from Sunday evening’s card game, or a salad made with the intention that “this week for sure I will stick to my diet.” More likely lunch is a power bar, an interchangeable banana/apple depending on what was left from the grocery run last week, and a fat free yoghurt. An umbrella might be poking out of one of the bags. There’s a good possibility she also is carrying the free Express handed to her as she entered the Metro at Tenley, and maybe a novel.
This is a lot of baggage to maneuver especially when searching for the illusive Metro card that inevitably has wormed its way to the bottom of one of her bags. By the way, is there anyone out there who hasn’t crashed into the back of some woman as she stops cold right in front of the exit turnstile because she can’t locate her Metro card in all of her bags? You know what I am talking about ...
Finally exiting the Metro, she stuffs the newspaper and novel into one of the open bags because god knows there are only so many hands and she still needs to run through Starbucks on the way to the office for coffee and yes, another little bag with a scone.
Even on weekends young women seem to cart around a lot of bags. Check out the scene at Eastern Market any Saturday or Sunday afternoon. The typical young woman will have a shoulder bag (a purse or maybe a faux designer backpack or heaven forbid, a Hello Kitty backpack!). In one hand she has a cotton grocery-type bag with tomatoes, peaches, and salsa, or perhaps yet another newly purchased handbag from one of the Market vendors (a bag within a bag). Throw a curious dog on a leash into the mix and this truly is an impressive juggling act.
Young Washington-area men too carry a lot of bags but theirs are very different from those of their female counterparts. Men in their twenties seem to carry more college-looking paraphernalia such as backpacks with alma mater logos, long-strapped book bags (again with school logo), and occasionally plastic grocery bags stuffed with dress shoes or runners (the opposite of what he currently has on his feet). Bags are not coordinated with his outfit; in fact, they aggressively bear no relationship to what he is wearing. Whether he is a graduate student, works at one of the gazillions of non-profits in the region, or is a freshly minted law associate, this is a Washington truism. You know I’m right.
Thirty-something DC women and men are more stylish in their choice of bags. This is a function of age, earning power, or the desire to portray a polished professional image. (“I have Arrived!”) As Washingtonians stride confidently into their thirties, their bags take on more cosmic meanings. The right bag becomes a public marker of one’s place in the all-important DC food chain. Indeed, who doesn’t look twice at the Louis Vuitton handbag on the arm of the attractive woman in the black suit and matching pumps preparing to get off at Farragut North to see if she is carrying a “real” Louis? Chances are that this status savvy gal-about-town also has with her a trim leather briefcase, shut up as tight as Homeland Security. Her coordinated and self assured public persona is rounded out with a tidy looking workout bag supposedly containing her athletic gear. Indeed this bag is a far cry from the gym bag she carried just a few years ago. The current incarnation has a designer label or trendy pattern that implies she is serious about her fitness commitment, whether this is true or not. Her bag may simply contain the Washington Post or Financial Times, her Burberry umbrella, her niece’s artwork to be hung in her cubicle, and oh, quite incidentally, her yoga clothes and mat. What difference does it make? Right now, at this moment in her life it’s all about the bag itself more than the baggage in it.
Even men at this stage are noticeably more aware of their bags. Gone are the sloppy backpacks and crinkly grocery bags, replaced with a medium sized briefcase. Please note that a male owned briefcase often is larger than one carried by a female. Why? Because it holds more “stuff.” Women tend to compartmentalize their bags into specific functions. Men will pitch everything into one bag and hope like hell they can get away with it. Furthermore, it is important that the male owned bag be innocuous. No man in DC wants to be known as “the guy with the really great bag.” I don’t care if he is straight or gay. In DC, most men are religiously conservative in how they present themselves. You will not see a lot of European man-bags around this town.
There will always be folks out there who carry bags from last year’s conference on global warming and energy policy with the long list of sponsor logos plastered all over the front, or use the freebie canvas bag they got when they contributed to WETA four years ago (because “damn it, it’s still a good bag. My wife just needs to wash it”). But especially in the Capitol Hill and Downtown sectors of DC, people tend to be slightly more polished. Or think they are more polished.
As Washingtonians age, the bags they carry often are more expensive and industry specific than what they sported earlier in their career. For example, lawyers of a certain stature use large leather, briefing bags with locks and buckles; junior associates generally schlep these bags for their mentors. These lawyerly bags are curious looking and can give the owner an air of importance. You will, however, wait a long time to see any of these bags on Metro. Workout bags virtually disappear on most of the over forties crowd. Those people who do maintain a gym membership use the facilities at their Club where their workout gear is laundered daily on-site thus negating the need for a bag. Rarely do you see anyone from this set carrying their things in a grocery or shopping bag! That said, however, I have a friend who owns several quite nice bags in which to transport his papers between office and home, but uses a plastic bag or no bag at all. I don’t get it but it makes him happy.
This is just the tip of the iceberg, I know. What about the many bags parents carry, especially mothers of toddlers? Colourful diaper bags, bags of toys and/or snacks, maybe even a bag for covering the stroller are all de rigueur. And, what’s the deal with the hierarchy of shopping bags we all use from time to time? How come we are OK being seen holding a bag from Neiman Marcus or Brooks Brothers but a bag from Walmart or Target can cause heart palpitations? Talk about bag*gage.
I’m not sure but I think that’s an entrée to another story …
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