Mexico is known for having many superstitions and old-wives tales. I’m still in the process of learning some of them, and in general I just try to ignore them. One of the ones that affects me the most is the purse rule.
In Mexico, it’s believed that if you leave your purse on the floor, you will have bad luck with money.
This is a problem for me, because I leave my purse on the floor ALL THE TIME. For Mexican women, this is apparently not an option. Normally I try to be understanding and gracious, and I’ve changed certain habits without really knowing why, but this is one area where I just ain’t gonna change. Let me give you a few scenarios of what often happens when I go out to a bar with friends:
1. There is an empty chair at the table. Sweet! No problem. All the girls place their purses on the chair.
2. There is no empty chair, but the chair backs are square-shaped and you can hang your purse on them. Most gals will hang their purse on the back of the chair in this case. Sorry, not for me. I’ve had purses whose handles get stretched/torn up that way. (My purses are usually large, and can be a bit heavy, causing more strain on the handles.) I place mine on the floor. Some lady friends might look visibly upset. When I go to the bathroom and come back, I will often find my purse hung up on the back of my chair. I’ll place it on the floor again, and someone will say, “Don’t put that on the floor!”
3. There is no empty chair, and the chairs have round backs. The Mexican girls will spend the entire evening with their purse in their lap or behind their back. HECK. NO. I might do this if carrying a small clutch. MAYBE. I’ll put my purse on the floor, like a normal person, because eating with a huge purse in your lap is quite uncomfortable. Sometimes everyone will place their purse on top of the table, if there’s room. I find this a bit unsanitary. When was the last time you washed your purse? Maybe I’ll buy them one of these:
Even though my friends get unsettled by this, I keep doing it, for comfort reasons. Despite their best efforts to improve my money luck, my finances are just fine. 🙂
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