The Purse Might Be Ugly, But It Sure Makes Me Look Good

I bought an extremely ugly purse off of Amazon a while back. It looked good in the picture, but when I received it, it was 4 times bigger than I expected. I ignored it for about 5 months, before ultimately trying to give it away, failing miserably and then giving in and using it to schlep my belongings to Indianapolis for a weekend vacation. My stepmom eyed the bugger right away. She loved it. I told her she could have it; that I had been looking to give it away for a while now. She felt bad that she was taking my purse so she gave me the heinous purse pictured above (glasses not included) so that I could hold my belongings. Thusly, I was back in square 1: Ugly purse, no one to give it to. I have tried to give it to 3 people, all to no avail.

The other day on the train, I sat next to a little Mexican lady. I saw her eyeing my purse. I hadn't zippered it because it wasn't going anywhere, and sometimes I like to provoke people to hassle me so I can practice my kung fu on their asses. I figured she was glaring at my purse because it was open. After all, there was no way she actually liked it.

The lady looked at me and asked me if I spoke Spanish.

"Un poquito," I answered.

She asked me where I bought my purse. I told her my mom had given it to me, etc... It occurred to me that she liked it. I told her that I would send it to her that day. She wrote down her address and I did exactly that.

Since sending the thing, I've been lugging around my purse's guts in a Crate 'n Barrel shopping bag, cursing myself for not getting another sizeable purse before sending mine off.

After all, are these feelings of selflessness worth the discomfort? I hardly think so.

Being selfish and comfortable totally holds the trump over being selfless and bothered. Or, at least this is what I thought until my work line rang today and it was the lady from the train, speaking in quite broken English. I told her she had the wrong number, trying to figure out how to translate it into Spanish: "Tienes el numero equivocado..." I was saying as she interrupted, "Is this Gigi?"

It occurred to me that it was the lady from the train. I didn't even realize that I had given her my name, but I did write her a short note on company stationary. I guess I must have accidentally signed it. Anyhow, the lady went on to thank me profusely, "I just receive purse. I can't believe you give such nice gift to complete stranger. Today is my birthday!"

She told me that she could use anything else I was getting rid of as well, and I don't think this was a greedy gesture on her part. Rather, it was one of true necessity. Kinda makes me reconsider my self-centeredness. Not too much, of course, but you know, I might start doing some good deeds here and there. If anything, it's good karma for my soul, which is dissipating rapidly in NYC.