Brown Bag it in Gucci or Dolce

People in New York pride themselves on economical decisions. Like carrying their lunch to work instead of buying it everyday. Contrary to Sex and the City, no one in this place can afford to eat out every meal, with the exception of those working on Wall Street. THe rest of us eat out some and the rest of the time brown bag it, carrying our lunch to work along with bags, cell phones, etc. What is unique about this set up is the fiscally concious brown-bagger conspiciously carries her peanut butter and jelly sandwich in a shopping bag. Well, that's pretty fiscally and environmentally concious, too, you say? What if it's a shopping bag.

Some of the most popular and common choices include Sephora and Bloomingdale's bags, but I have seen everything else, even a Hermes lunchbag. You're telling me you can spend five thousand dollars on a purse and yet can't afford to spend money on lunch? I have to say I'm impressed with the distribution of money. Almost constantly I hear bits and pieces of conversation that center around food and the cost of cocktails. I have to admit I participate in this as well but to a different degree. It's more like I complain about the cost of food and then DON'T go spend thousands on clothes and accessories. I don't think I've ever lived anywhere else where carryiing your lunch was such a status symbol. Are the lunches in Prada better than those in Sephora? I doubt it. i imagine that essentially I'm carrying the same stuff in my LL Bean lunchbox (that's insulated, thanks!) I do find that I save my shopping bags here, and used to at home as well, to mark certain occurrences in my life. The first time I shopped at Bloomingdales, my only item from Tifffany's.

But I find it amusing and slightly ironic that the people here are happy to recycle by carrying their lunch in bags advertising a more extravagant lifestyle than is associated with general brown-bagging. This is not your typical blue collar lunch. These are serious shoppers that probably can't afford to eat out every day because their money is going to cover Bloomingdales and Louis Vuitton purchases. Or maybe they just go into the stores and ask for the bags. I wonder what kind of status symbol I would hold carrying my lunch in a grocery bag, per se, or old Belk's bag.