[quote=“smwsplr, post:60, topic:22419, full:true”] I’m a woman and a handbag is essential…
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Believe me, Stella, for men of a certain age a man-bag is an essential piece of kit, and I’ve tried several versions myself, all of which are either too fiddly, too small, or awkward to wear/carry.
I am forever disconcerted at checkouts by having to juggle car-keys, wallet, store card, small change and all the other paraphernalia stored in trouser pockets that also contain phone, tissues for runny nose, shopping lists, screws from concurrent bricolage jobs, toothpicks, tops from beer bottles, old lottery tickets, trouser-fluff and mysterious trinkets from Lord-knows-where-and-when-and what-for.
I’m well known locally as a bumbling old fool who always forgets, drops or trips over something on his way through the local commerces. A well-designed man-bag would make a big difference, but I have yet to find one to suit.
I too am a fan of Ryan Air. I have lived in France for 20 years and on the very odd occasion I want to go back to the U.K. it is the only one that flies direct from my local airport. The service has always been good and all the nonsense surrounding boarding, luggage etc can be a pain but as long as you do your homework it isn’t a problem.
I take the point about laager louts etc. invading Europe because of cheap flights but that is hardly the fault of Ryan Air! Many airlines now offer cheap flights. Even flying long haul the dross that at one time wouldn’t have dreamt of flying can now travel world wide. 1st class weeds them out somewhat but obviously is beyond what many want to pay.
My French partner has found the ideal solution, he has bought a shoulder bag in ‘manly stripes’. When we are out for a day and I want to take my camera I pop it in his bag as mine isn’t big enough
I should add that it’s in a cotton material so is well able to cope with all the essential ‘bits’ that keep being added !
By the way what is it with men and store cards that every time we get to the checkout I am always asked ‘what store are we in and what colour is the card’? I wouldn’t mind but we only have 2 ‘local(ish)’ supermarkets
It only costs a fiver for priority boarding AND your 10kg bag. That’s not too shabby. I like being charged for what I do want and not having to pay for what I don’t.
In the early eighties a trend started in Italy and quickly spread to France and virtually every man had a sacoche containing his keys, cigarettes, lighter, wallet, Carte Bleue, ID card (or in my case a Carte de Séjour), etc. I found it very convenient because you could mislay absolutely everything in one go.
You can have your handbag (or laptop bag, whatever) AND a 10kg bag with priority boarding or just the former without priority. Only the first 100 or so passengers can book priority. The objective is to speed up boarding by not having people take onboard more cabin bags than will fit in the O/H lockers. One of O’Leary’s key objectives has always been the speed and efficiency of turnaround. To the same end, Ryanair tends to land and taxi more aggressively with resultant higher tyre wear, which they consider a worthwhile price to pay. Ryanair’s chief pilot of many years, Ray Conway, is an old motorbiking friend from our schoolboy days. He had a Kawasaki 100 which used to out drag our Yamaha 125s much to our chagrin. I haven’t bumped into him in years but mutual friends often do. He’s a fellow Morgan owner now, which he inherited from his Dad, who was also a pilot.
It’s simple Stella, It should fit under the seat in front of you unless you are in an emergency row, in which case it must be stowed for take off and landing. I carry a laptop bag containing two 13" Macbooks and an iPad plus associated travel detritus and have never had a problem.
Careful Stella, no matter what size it is you can’t keep it with you for take off and landing in an emergncy row. They’re the rows beside the main doors and the overwing emergency exits.
You can book a seat Stella, I think it’s only a fiver for one in the center of the aircraft away from the emergency rows, which cost more due to extra legroom (and a slightly better chance of survival post crash).
I used to put my handbag behind my back, lean against it and strap myself in, once take off was safely over it stayed on my lap. Mind you I have never travelled Ryan Air maybe their seats are Leprechaun sized
Sadly I agree David. My confidence has eroded over the years too. The earliest thing I noticed was that BBC UK bad news stories were often, if not always, followed by a “foreign” bad news story. For example, if the domestic UK news was “inflation soaring” then it would be followed by “Franc under pressure” or some such, even though nobody in France had noticed or cared about the “pressure”. It seems to be a (secret?) policy of whenever anything goes awry in the British economy be sure to take the sting out of it with a foreign bad news story. The underlying message seems to be “things may be bad here but they’re worse abroad”.
Glad you mentioned that, John! I had a great ‘Manhattan’ man-bag when they first became an item, but lost everything essential including bank card, wallet, driving licence and car keys when I hung it on the back of my chair during a coffee-break at a town-hall meeting, and it was half-inched.
perhaps I will use a body-belt instead… 
