Packing

It is often difficult for (women) to select what they should pack for a week-long vacation. My mother, for example, will pack a large suit case with four different pair of shoes, five dresses, three pairs of paints, 10 blouses, two night gowns; and how could she be without the obligatory makeup sachle, hairdryer, hair iron, brushs, creams, polish removers, and large bottles of shampoo, conditioner, mouthwash, and a can of shaving cream. Am I forgetting something?

Probably. But that's beside the point. My mother doesn't know how to pack conservatively. Invite her for a weekend away and she'll bring enough clothing and toiletries to last a month. It's silly. It's also exhausting, for her and those carrying her luggage, which, I might interject here, is threadbare paisly print unstructuredness. It has no wheels and a duck-taped handle for grip. A frayed looking hole near the bottom, where there should be a wheel, allows everyone to preview what she has packed. A sock bulges through, a blouse sleeve hangs out like a wedding train. She believes that, since she's had the luggage for over 25 years, there is no use in throwing it away; the working logict here is something to the effect of: if it's lasted this long, why buy a new one?

She will buy a new one—I''ve lent her the reasons she'll need to make this purchase. (1) She will, eventually, lose something out of that whole, or, in a wild ride down a chute at baggage claim, the holy bag may catch on a corner, ripping wide open. (2) It's lunky. Without wheels, carrying around her over-stuffed suitcase is cumbersome work. She complains about pain in her shoulders and elbows. I say, get a suitcase with wheels. (3). The small investment will cancel the greif and uncertainty her luggage causes her—why should one be worrying about their suitcases at every juncture of their vacation.

Next spring, my mother will visit me in Italy for two weeks. She's buying a new suitcase with wheels and a strap. I've taught her that, because no one in Italy knows who she is, tht it's ok to wear the same jeans, say, four of five times, It's ok to wear sneakers all vacation long and bring one other nice pair of shoes for going out. I've also taught her that she can purchase all her creams and shampoos and neccesary hygeine products upon her arrival. She can forgo packing a towel, a set of sheets, her flat hair iron and her large diffusing hair dryer (or at least buy a tiny portable one). She can launder the few iteams she'll bring The leftover space in her suit case will alow her to travel comfortably back home with many new clothes and trinkets she'll purchase on her visit.