A Purse on the Floor is Money out the Door
November 21, 2014
If you’re a woman, you’ve asked yourself this question: Where do I put my handbag while I eat? Or while I visit?
If you hang it on the chair, it’s easy pickings for a thief. Putting it on your lap is not comfortable and can get messy. So, what happens? Usually you put it on the floor by your feet, tucking it in so that the waiter doesn’t kick it around or trip over the strap! Am I right, ladies?
One of the things that was very prevalent when I journeyed this summer was that there was far more thought given to “purse etiquette” outside North America.
In fact I would go so far as to say they have mastered the art.
After a long morning of shopping at a large mall in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, we stopped for tea at Harrods beautiful tea bar. The Tea Salon, with its white clothed tables and fine china, was the perfect place to partake in a cool drink and take a break fro our shop-till-we-drop excursion.
We sat down and I put my handbag and my parcels on the floor next to me. The dashing waiter rushed over with a black basket and placed it on the floor next to me, picked up my handbag and placed it in the basket. I blushed, smiled and thanked him. Seriously, it’s been years since a man touched one of my handbags! 🙂
A few days later, in Singapore, at the Marina Bay Resort – the Ku de Ta restaurant—I again went to put my handbag on the floor, out of habit, and the waitress, Ida, suggested I place my handbag on the cushion next to me instead.
As we left the restaurant we were each presented with a beautiful purse hanger as a gift. Apparently the restaurant gives the ornate purse hangers to all the restaurant patrons to encourage them to use them throughout the city when they are tempted to place their handbag on the floor! What a lovely gesture, and a wonderful way of sharing proper “etiquette” of how better to manage your handbag.
The following week in Tokyo, we noticed some restaurants had bins built in next to the dining tables to place parcels and handbags in. Talk about being attentive to your clients needs! I’m curious, were there women involved with the design of the bins or was it men who had their eyes open to the challenges of their patrons?
Perhaps one of the catalysts in the east is the Chinese proverb that says: “A purse on the floor is money out the door.” Your money, checkbook and credit cards are typically in your handbag and putting your purse on the floor is disrespectful and shows disregard for your wealth.
While we don’t have a similar proverb in the west, I only had to have one biologist show me the bacteria that resides on the floors EVERYWHERE to know you and I ought not to be putting our handbag on the floor and then minutes later on our kitchen counter, bathroom counter and even on our beds – nasty! Knowing that, why would we ever want to put our purse on the floor again?
Where are you likely to place your handbag when you need to put it down?
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1 Responses to A Purse on the Floor is Money out the Door
Words of wisdom and something every woman is confronted with …where to place my handbag?
Show how much you value your goods and money by treating them with respect. Take them off the floor.
Thank you Margaret for sharing.