At Paper Napkin, Sheryl asks women to list the contents of their purses.

My list is a bit skimpy. I’m not a purse person.

It’s the carrying part. I want to be hands-free. I want to swing my arms freely when I walk. I want to be ready to grab at money flying through the air, with both hands, should the back of an armored truck burst open while driving by, and without having to worry about dropping my purse.

Until recently, I’d gone purseless for years. Five or six. I’d carry my flat stuff in my back pocket, set of keys and little pen knife (good thing I’m not a student) in my front pocket and sometimes a few other bits — Kleenex, biz cards.

Then along came the cell phone, something else I’d been doing without. It’s one thing to carry car keys in your pocket but a cell phone? Straying toward un-feminine bulging, can’t have that.

So I poked around the Internet and praise capitalism, found the Hobo International Dora Cell Phone Holder, which I bought (in Sienna), and which arrived two days later, and it’s perfect. It’s got the long strap so I can cross it from one shoulder to the opposite hip (hands-free! hands-free! and no loose-bra-strap feeling from having a purse strap constantly slipping from my shoulder!), it’s small, and it’s gorgeous.

(I looked at this, too, and might pick one up in red someday :-) )