When I was a kid I used to shop at the local Sanrio store at the mall called Pinocchio. There were quite a few things I wanted there. Usually I left the store with some stickers or some pencils; inexpensive stuff.

One thing I really wanted was a necklace or wrist coin purse.

Sure I had other coin purses, but not one from the Sanrio store. My mom would try to discourage me from asking for one. Her argument was that since the purse was clear people could see the money I had in it and want to steal it. The purse wasn’t completely clear. It had a picture of the character printed on it. The funny thing is that she would buy me clear coin purses from the Pic ‘n Save. I had an imitation Sanrio style coin purse from the Pic ‘n Save. It was a plain one - it didn’t have a neck or wrist strap. I think it had either a picture of a knock off looking Hello Kitty or My Melody character on it. The snap closure broke quickly. I was devastated. Another argument she gave was that I already had a coin wrist purse. It was an ugly looking blue thing made of nylon with screen print a picture of a palm tree on it in white. I don’t even remember where I got it. I think it was a Christmas present from some distant relative or something. I resented the thing because my mom would always tell me that I could not have a Sanrio wrist pouch because I already had that blue one at home. It would make me so angry!

When I was in first grade I loved Minnie ‘n Me. It was really popular in my first grade class among the girls. I had quite a few pieces of merchandise; valentines, coloring books, bandages, Colorforms, and trading cards.

If I could not get a Sanrio character purse I wanted to get the next best thing; a Disney character purse. I saw a Minnie ‘n Me purse at the store and I convinced my parents to buy me one. If I recall correctly there was a lot of pleading involved. I think I might have even used the: “it’s not a clear purse argument.” I loved that thing! I wore it as a necklace. My love for this purse was short lived though.

My aunt was throwing a party at her house and I decided to wear the purse. I don’t remember what the party was for or who it was for. There were some relatives there who I usually didn’t see much or knew very well; some second and third cousins. One of my relatives there was pretty young, like under five years old. Once she saw that purse she had to have it. First she was crying, then it became uncontrollable shrieking. I’m not exactly sure why she wanted it. None of the adults were observant enough to notice she was wearing Minnie ‘n Me shoes.

I was cornered at the party by the “mature” adults. They told me to give her the purse. Because according to them it made me a better person. Did they realize they were talking to a first grader here who was asked to give up a purse she really liked for the sake of making another kid stop shrieking!? One relative who is my mom's cousin who I can only describe as “thrives on good vibes” was trying very hard to convince me to do it. What did she care? She did not have to give up a purse she loved!? So I caved under the pressure of the “mature” adults and gave it up. She wasn’t getting my muff! It’s a pretty cool muff. It is made of fake fur and looks like a leopard face with eyes and ears on it.

My aunt who hosted the party bought me a replacement purse a few weeks later. It wasn’t a Minnie ‘n Me purse, but a Tour de Mouse one. My mom had to explain the parody to me. Some girl in my first grade class had a backpack with a very similar design.

When I got it and took it home, the first thing I did was write my first and last name on the back of it in washable marker. I was not allowed to use permanent markers at the time. You can still faintly see my name written in washable marker on the back.