Bag

An old  bag sits in the boot (American: trunk) of my silver South Korean car (Clint) . I do not use it for shopping. It just sits there with an assortment of stuff in it. Sometimes I bring it in the house when I need the boot space but mostly it just remains there from week to week, season to season.

To tell you the truth, I had never given that bag a moment's thought until the day before yesterday. Then I chuckled to myself, "What the hell is in that bag anyway?" 

I remember a black and white TV moment from my childhood when a boy was asked to empty the contents of his pockets. It seemed as though the items in his pockets would speak of him - reflecting his character and interests. As I recall, the items included three or four low denomination coins, a barley sugar sweet still wrapped, a rubber band, a short length of string, a found military button and a white mouse (living).

Today I brought my bag out of the car to examine the contents and I took four photographs to share with you...

EXHIBIT ONE

A dirty old rag, a map of the Barrow-in-Furness area, a Co-op shopping receipt, some sunglasses, a  car sponge wrapped in chamois leather, a pink highlighter, a "Sharpie" pen and an old "Somerfield" shopping bag (N.B. "Somerfield Stores" shut down in 2011).

EXHIBIT TWO

My old faded sunhat that I bought in Malta in 2012, my fairly new Hull City beanie hat, a pair of thin socks, a pair of grey fingerless gloves, a pair of thick woollen walking socks (never worn).

EXHIBIT THREE

A map of the centre of Barnsley, a flattened toilet roll, a Hull City programme v Nottingham Forest 2023, half empty pack of baby cleansing tissues all dried up, a Tom Paxton CD cover but no CD inside, an unopened pack of heel inserts for my walking boots.

EXHIBIT FOUR

A one litre water flask, an empty "Smart" water bottle, an empty windscreen de-icer spray, two bottles of "Nivea" sun cream - both factor 30.

⦿

You could think of my bag as a kind of survival kit.  If  Clint broke down on some inhospitable moorland track miles from anywhere, I know that I would be okay because that old shopping bag contains everything I need in an emergency.

from Yorkshire Pudding https://ift.tt/U7DN184