I subscribe to a magazine. Yeah, those things that come in the mail you can read in a sitting or two without having to pay too much attention. What social media used to be, except it took longer to get it. I’ve always enjoyed those little random questions that sometimes make up a regular section.
The editorial staff responds to this month’s question: What is one weird thing you always carry with you?
How would I answer this? For starters, I would say “It depends on where I’m going, but if it’s always, then it wouldn’t be dependent on where I’m going.” And there Alice goes, down the rabbit hole of possibilities. I suppose I don’t have anything weird I always carry with me.
Work badge. Doesn’t count. Only at work.
Lip balm. Doesn’t count, I don’t always take my purse.
Oh, for crying out loud, just answer the question. Generally speaking. No one is checking. There is no test. No wrong answer. It’s just a question to get conversation going. To get the brain thinking. How weird are you? Don’t get so dang technical!
If I was a brave and cool type of person, I’d say tattoos. But I don’t have tattoos. But are they weird? I don’t think so. I do know I’d never get one not because I’m afraid of needles, but because I’m so indecisive about choosing one. Apparently I don’t want one badly enough.
Okay, one weird thing, one weird thing, one weird thing.
Gum. Doesn’t count. Not weird.
Water. Doesn’t count. Necessary.
My phone. Doesn’t count. Too normal.
A notebook. Doesn’t count. I’m too old to completely depend on tech.
But what constitutes weird? Unique, maybe? Odd? If I always carry something odd, then it would be odd rather than weird, unless it’s the same thing. Do NOT look it up to check for nuance. The word was weird. The question is what’s one weird thing you always carry?
It’s that picky little word, always that’s getting me. Ignore it. But it says always. Ignore it anyway. If you were on the editorial staff, what would you say?
Ignoring the word always, editing the question, and replacing it with frequently, I have my answer(s).
A teal pencil case full of a variety of colored pens, ranging from ball point to felt-tipped.
A carved olive wood heart my mom brought me from the Holy Land.
A tin full of glittery blue Crazy Aaron’s Thinking Putty.
A small notebook titled Get Off Your Apps.
I can’t come up with one answer. (This is almost as nerve-racking as choosing the annual OLW-one little word.) Once I got to thinking about it, I mentally emptied the contents of my bag. Now I have to put everything back, resisting the urge to get up and look at what I do have that I might have forgotten.
Are these weird? I don’t know.
What is something weird you always carry? Avoid over-analyzing the question. I already did that for you.
Nerds Beget Nerds 
I love this quirky post! I love the way you let us in your head and share your thinking with us. Not sure if it’s the word “weird” or “always” that makes this difficult to answer.
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Hi Jodi, thank you for reading. Sometimes these silly questions get into my head and won’t leave me alone, lol!
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Oh great, now the contents of my bags will be swirling around in my head as a try to drift off to sleep! I do love your list. Your post reminds me of when they play silly games at showers, and you get points for things you have in your purse. I am never even close!
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Hi Rita, I have had my share of baby shower purse games. The things some people carry! My mom is one of them. I’m trying to downsize my bag, so sometimes it’s a small wallet with a hook for keys. I’d never win. It also reminds me of Let’s Make a Deal with the ladies in the audience digging random items out of their bags to win a prize. Good times!
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My answer was not so much that it depends on where you are, but who you are and what you consider weird. One person’s weird is another’s normal. =D That said I don’t think I carry anything weird. LOL
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Vivian, LOL! So true, it depends on who you are and what you consider weird.
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I think I’d vote for the sparkly putty. That is very cool and unexpected. I keep a tiny baggie for a necklace. I have gotten my necklaces hopelessly tangled by just putting them in a wallet so a jeweler showed me how to avoid it with a tiny baggie. I think it’s an essential, but it’s the only thing I can think of that the rest of the world might think is weird. I’m completely boring.
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Oooh, a tiny baggie. Note to self. It’s probably best to keep my necklaces in tiny baggies in my jewelry box. They’re always tangled.
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This was a delight to read! One weird thing I always carry is sunglasses–on my head. That way they don’t get scratched and they’re ready if I need them. Super dark rainy day? I still have my sunglasses perched on top of my head. Sometimes kids stop me in the hall. “Do you know you’re wearing two pairs of glasses?” Yep, I sure do!
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Elisabeth, thank you for reading. I’ve also worn sunglasses on top of my head, but I accidentally fling them off too much. And I’m still thinking about this question…why? Maybe because it’s fun. I now want to look inside other people’s bags.
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Well, I don’t know about calling them weird, but these were my favorite things you listed: “A carved olive wood heart my mom brought me from the Holy Land. A tin full of glittery blue Crazy Aaron’s Thinking Putty. A small notebook titled Get Off Your Apps.” I just asked my daughter what the weirdest thing I carry is and she came up with some interesting things: “I remember for like a month you just had a bottle of Tums chilling in your bag. My earrings? I don’t know if that’s weird. You used to always carry my little brother’s toys in your bag, like you’d just have this big ass dinosaur sticking out of your bag.” I’d say she helped me compile a pretty good list. I might add some makeup that I pretty much never put on and heaven only knows what detritus lives at the bottom of my bag. This was a fun prompt, thank you!
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Caroline, your daughter’s response about the dinosaur is hilarious! I took a peek at your comment today while helping a librarian finish up doing inventory. She has two large dinosaurs on her circulation desk and I imagined them poking out of someone’s bag. So funny! Thank you (and your daughter) for the chuckle.
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This post made me chuckle! I love how you shared your thought process of agonizing over the question, and I love the ending. In trying not to over-analyze the question, I’ve come up with pebbles. I like to pick up perfect-looking pebbles when I visit the ocean, and then carry them in my coat pocket. As I carry them around and rub them they get smoother and smoother. Pleasantly tactile, but probably weird.
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Ocean pebbles sound like a relaxing item to carry around.
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