[Dr. Howard]

(08-27-2015 09:41 AM)Parlay44 Wrote:  

(08-27-2015 09:02 AM)MikeS Wrote:  

(08-27-2015 07:44 AM)Parlay44 Wrote:  

(08-27-2015 12:53 AM)Beyond Borders Wrote:  

The "men" in the pic at the top of the article.





It's telling of the situation that the picture used to emphasize a shortage of men has 4 times as many "men" in it as women.

What I see is 4 men wearing messenger bags(male purses) and a woman wearing a blue dress(a traditional male color).

Venturing briefly off topic since I was looking at this matter a few days ago.
How the hell is a guy on foot supposed to be carrying things (documents, tablet, laptop, whatever) around without either using a messenger bag (which some men, possibly women as well, still consider "gay"), a backpack (even a nice leather backpack is likely to make you look like a tourist or backpacker, or just a bit of a dork) or a briefcase (only really works for people who are suited up for work)?

I'm looking into messenger bags at the moment. Seems like the over all best option out of several bad ones. So far I've usually been using a casual gym style backpack or duffel bag when I need to bring something with me around town, but it looks even more casual and touristy in my opinion (or if you're lucky, like you might actually be on the way to or from the gym, but not so much if you're strolling around with them in a mall or on the way to a café).

I've actually thought long and hard(excuse the pun) about this issue.

Here's what it is. In a city like NY status is everything. So a man carrying a messenger bag, laptop backpack or similar is seen as "working class" or gay. The true alphas of the city don't need to carry anything. They wander the city in nice suits with nothing but a big gangster roll of cash in their front pocket.

Women fill their purses with things to handle many different situations because they never know when they'll need something. So when you're carrying a bag full of crap you're emulating a female. ie.....big turn off.

When men need something they just whip out some cash and buy it.

So true. Let me provide two examples.

1. When I worked for the government, the state senators and governors never carried anything...that was their staff assistant's job.

2. When living 'downtown' and we'd go out to the bars after work those of us that carried nothing either had all of their stuff at their downtown office, in their car in a ramp or in their nearby apartment. The students and interns that had no car or proximity to downtown were the ones with messenger bags and backpacks. At most I carried a leather folio with a tablet, paper and business cards in it.