This is funny, but it reminded me of something! Actually it's kind of a coincidence that I'm reading this now and not when you published it. And the reason is connected to my comment!

February was kind of a hellish month for me. First, I became horribly ill with influenza. It was so bad I was sure I had COVID. Then, before I even fully recovered, I had to keep a commitment to my elderly neighbor to help her through her hip replacement surgery.

So that was a few days of driving to the hospital and back, more than an hour away, and BEING at the hospital was stressful, because they kept trying to discharge her before she was ready. Even with my (only partially) successful advocacy for a longer stay, getting her in and out of my truck to get her home was seriously traumatizing, for both of us.

Then, a few days after she got home, she had a COPD crisis, which we later learned was probably a reaction to the general anesthesia during the hip replacement.

(Hence why I didn't read this sooner. I wasn't paying a lot of attention to Medium.)

Anyway, she landed in a different, closer hospital for a week. (Note to the insurance company that kicked her out of the first hospital: your greed ended up costing you more money than caring for her appropriately in the first place would have cost.)

I drove back and forth to the new hospital every day. At some point I became so exhausted that I did something I've never done on purpose before. I wore comfortable lounge pants in public instead of jeans, chinos, or dress slacks.

And they didn't have pockets. I quickly learned I'd sacrificed practicality for comfort! The next day, I carried a cute little cloth shopping bag that looked for all the world like a purse. I put my wallet, phone charger, keys, and some ibuprofen (because I was still feeling icky sometimes) in there ... and ... the whole experience was fabulous! So much better than pockets. Women are on to something if you ask me!