Women’s Purses. Why Does the Cell Phone Always Fall To the Bottom of the Bag?
Posted: Saturday, February 11, 2012
by Highway 101
We have all been there, standing in a line at the airport or at a shopping mall behind two women in conversation. Suddenly a cell phone rings right beside them. Frantically one of them searches her purse to find the phone. However it’s buried so deep below a mountain of female accessories that the phone has stopped ringing by the time she extracts it from its position right at the bottom of the bag. A man might want to call the person back who had called but as seems to happen more often than not the woman puts the phone back in her bag and continues talking to her friend. It would be an interesting exercise to figure out just how long it will take for the phone to once again burrow its way to the bottom of the bag.
Recently I was standing in a parking lot talking to a friend when a car pulled up beside us. The lady driver wound down the window and asked if I could help her. She said she had to call her mother urgently and couldn’t find her cell phone. I assumed that she was going to ask to borrow my cell phone which she could see was strapped to my belt as normal. I started to wonder if this was part of a scam where she borrowed my phone and then drove off with it and probably make a dozen international calls before I could get the phone suspended.
Well it turns out the lady driver was not out to steal my phone. She asked if I could dial a number and I agreed to do so expecting her mother to answer. I dialed the number and to my surprise I heard a phone ring in the car. The driver grabbed her purse and started to search in it and then, realizing it wasn’t there, looked around the car and found the cell phone hiding in a cup holder. Now that’s what I call one really smart cell phone to make it out of the purse. She thanked me profusely and then drove off. I still have her number stored on my phone and the devilish thought occurred to me that if I rang it for say a couple of rings then stopped and rang again and when she answered I might say “I just hate it when you drag me past the lipstick every time you want to use me because it’s just not my color”
Cell phones have been around for a couple of decades so you would think someone would have invented a way for a cell phone to be placed in a woman’s purse and not sink to the bottom. What about a small leash on the beast with a fancy fastener that clips on the purse handle. Maybe Louis Vuitton could dream something to do the job and so the next time we see their full page advert with Ali and Bono alighting from a small plane in Africa the cell phone clasp will be very visible for all to see.
Vince Waterson is a telecommunications consultant who lives in California. He can be contacted at email vwaterson@aol.com
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Top-level comments on this article: (8 total)Hello Vince, I think the problem is not with the cell phone but with our handbag. I encounter this almost every time everyday. I have to dig deep for my ringing phone that is slipping down in the bottom of my bag (4 compartments) All the times I mistook I lost it somewhere. We have to dial the house phone to detect the whereabouts of our cell phones when we can't find our individual cell phones meaning my family.
Same thing goes to my glasses. I now keep the items in a case or a little holder.Hello Hilda
once upon a time my late wife suggested I get a 'man bag' like some men in Europe walk around with however I resisted not just because I would lose my cell phone in the bag burts still I would forget to pick up the bag when for example I left a restuarant. So why won't women were the cell phone on a belt like men do? Am I missing something here?
VinceNo no, nothing missing here. If you wear a strip belt that hooking your cell phone over your neck, but this fashion seems to have died down here and the other style you mentioned around your waist that looks like any asian tourists or some hawkers selling products in the shops or streets here. Maybe that got to do with fashion.Ok so what about a new line of women's tops that have a velcro strip at one side and the back of the phone holder also has a velcro strip?hahaha!!....101 ,very good , you'd be surprised indeed at the places my cell phone 's run off too. I think the get a little help sometimes. OH and we dont always wear a belt Vince, so its not a reliable spot to keep the cell phone there for a lady. SO I thought id try to start a new fashion, like ohhhhhh....say wearing our bras on the outside of our clothes...they have enough straps ...hehehe...thanks 101 !!I think that's a great idea. I assume you would have one bra on the inside of your clothes for the obvious reasons and then a second bras on the outside which would be ornamental on which you clip your cell phone. Of course the exterior bras would have to be rain proof etc so maybe it should be made out maybe polished aluminium. Better still extended it down a little and you have a breast place like Joan of Arc. I wonder is Victoria Secret would sell breastplates?
Hilarious! I think somebody should make a Cell GPS - but then that would get lost in the bag, too. Hmm, seems like that woman had the best idea!Another idea for a holder. What if the bag has a velcro strip inside near the top going right the way around the bag that way when a woman throws the phone nonchalantly in the bag then there is a good chance it will stick to the velcro?
Even though I try to have a designated place in my bag (many have cellphone pockets), I still find myself scrabbling about trying to find my phone. And have often needed to use the landline to find it at home or even in the car when it's fallen out of my bag by mistake. As for wearing it on a belt like guys do - far too easy Vince, belts don't always work on the variety of outfits us gals wear!Linda so why is that women seem to throw the phone into their bag after a phone call? Is it because for many the cell call was an unwaranted interuption to more important things they were doing like shopping?
Handbags will one day be discovered to have the precise structure of black holes.Larna, I once read a book called "Black Holes the End of the Universe" and I think you could be right that the universe could disappear through the bottom of a woman's handbag. From what I have witnessed over the years the only thing I haven't seen in a woman's handbag is the kitchen sink but pretty much everything else.
Could have just been her way of giving you her phone #.......ya'll just can't follow the meanderings of a woman's mind.... ;)Ella, well the thought crossed my mind but then I thought no. Women aren't just driving around intent on picking up men on the street, are they? Or could I be missing something?Street- bar- church- internet.......what's the difference?- It's not where you are, but what you see- :)
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This can also be a problem in a house where it can get hidden. If only they could invent a phone with a cord attached to a wall so it would always stay in one place. Maybe someday.
Ron
SOOOO TRUE!!! After accidentally finding this article and the posts I had quite a chuckle! I have just created a product (patent pending) that is the perfect solution to this problem! Seriously, I had this problem 100 times a day! It became embarrassing to be constantly looking for my phone (especially when it is right in my purse!)
My product has not hit the market as of yet, it will be ready for purchase by next week! Inexpensive ($9.99), simple, and extremely functional. It uses the 3.5mm earphone plug on our cell phones and attaches to the purse (either inside or outside). I leave the "leash" part hanging out of my purse when I am at home or in the office so when I leave ...I can see I do not have my phone with me, solving the second problem of leaving my phone places by accident. My sister and I have been using this for the last 3 months, and we cannot live without it! Product name is PhoneFetcher. If anyone interested in trying PhoneFetcher
please email me since my website is not up as of yet. Please "like" PhoneFetcher on FB, as a new product we can use all the help we can get!
Madelyn I think you should post a video on YouTube showing your PhoneFetcher in action such as a woman in a taxi in NY trying to pay her fare when the cellphone at the bottom of her bag rings and she gets flustered. In fact trying to find cellphones in handbags when the woman is in different placed could be a good theme for a whole series of YouTube videos.
Thank you so much. Yes, I agree about the video(s). We are in the planning and development stages as we speak. Your suggestions are great, they will help alot!
Please "like" us on Facebook if you would like to track us and see the video when it is completed and posted. Now..... we need to figure out the best ways to reach our market :)
All suggestions appreciated. :)
To find us on Facebook please use their usual URL and add /PhoneFetcher. Thanks!
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