What Have I Got in My Pocket?

 

This isn’t the actual question I’m looking for an answer to today, but it is where it starts. Friday morning, I found something on Twitter that had me thinking all day and has generated more than its fair share of discussion, so I’ve decided it needs a post of its own. The line was “I don’t always carry all the groceries on one arm, but when I do, my keys are in the wrong pocket.”

Now, this was quite frankly shocking to me. I mean, who changes up the location of where their keys are? The items I carry every day go into the same locations every day. Apparently this is not universal behavior, so one does when faced with such a problem, I decided to take it to Ricochet.

So the questions are:

  1. Do you have a routine for the items you carry every day?
  2. If not, why? Additionally, what kind of strategy do you use, if it can be described as such?

I’ll also note that in the original discussion it was pointed out that women’s clothing is often short on pockets, so they may not always use them or have room for keys. Which is understandable but if your clothes don’t have pockets, I would assume you have a purse or other bag where your keys would normally be, and I don’t see why you’d take them out just to put them in your pocket.

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  1. Qoumidan Coolidge
    Qoumidan
    @Qoumidan

    Yes.

     

    The reason I’m consistent is so that I don’t leave the house missing necessary items.  Because I’ve done that, and it sucks to get to the checkout after collecting groceries or making an order only to realize I have no wallet.

    I use my back pockets to carry receipts because they are thin and don’t affect sitting.

    A long time ago I read somewhere that carrying a wallet in the back pocket can cause back problems.

    And I’m lazy so I hate carrying a bag around if I don’t have to.

     

    • #31
  2. Judge Mental Member
    Judge Mental
    @JudgeMental

    Qoumidan (View Comment):

    A long time ago I read somewhere that carrying a wallet in the back pocket can cause back problems.

     

    Only if there is money in it.

    • #32
  3. Judge Mental Member
    Judge Mental
    @JudgeMental

    My system is so settled that I don’t routinely carry anything unless I was carrying it 20, 30, 40 years ago.

    Right front: keys,change, small bills (less than $20, organized by denomination, right side up, heads pointing the same direction, all the bent corners flattened out, bent backwards so the ones show on the outside)

    Right rear: wallet

    • #33
  4. Slow on the uptake Coolidge
    Slow on the uptake
    @Chuckles

    Right rear billfold (is that the same thing as a wallet?) with everything in its place and all folding money properly arranged. Coins, Gerber knife, keys, cellphone in some front pocket.  Except sometimes keys are in a shirt pocket or maybe a cellphone.

    And yes, I have had to go back for keys and later on walking in the store discovered my right rear pocket is empty.

    • #34
  5. Clavius Thatcher
    Clavius
    @Clavius

    The real problem comes with air travel.  That nice pen knife with a one inch blade is now forbidden.  I’ve lost at least four to the TSA.

    • #35
  6. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    Clavius (View Comment):

    The real problem comes with air travel. That nice pen knife with a one inch blade is now forbidden. I’ve lost at least four to the TSA.

    Everything goes into the checked baggage. 

    • #36
  7. Bishop Wash Member
    Bishop Wash
    @BishopWash

    Clavius (View Comment):

    The real problem comes with air travel. That nice pen knife with a one inch blade is now forbidden. I’ve lost at least four to the TSA.

    I’ve lost two. Once I forgot to throw my keys in checked luggage. Instead of losing another knife I decided to throw them in my backpack hoping they’d be overlooked. They were. Thanks TSA. 

    When I went through Denver years ago, they had mailers at the checkpoint. Don’t know how postage was handled because I didn’t require the service that day. 

    • #37
  8. Bishop Wash Member
    Bishop Wash
    @BishopWash

    Keys in my right front pocket.

    Wallet and change in left front pocket. 

    • #38
  9. Qoumidan Coolidge
    Qoumidan
    @Qoumidan

    Slow on the uptake (View Comment):
    Right rear billfold (is that the same thing as a wallet?) with everything in its place and all folding money properly arranged.

    My dad always called it a billfold.  It looked like any other wallet to me.  I don’t know.

    • #39
  10. thelonious Member
    thelonious
    @thelonious

    I normally keep a lot of stuff in my pocket which bulges out quite a bit. It doesn’t mean I’m happy to meet you.

    • #40
  11. Gary McVey Contributor
    Gary McVey
    @GaryMcVey

    Like Judge Mental and many of the rest of us here, I’ve had a consistent pattern for 30, 40 years. Nothing in my back pockets, keys in the right front because that’s invariably where the little extra pocket for it is. But the past few years, I’ve reversed my wallet to the right front, because if I’m driving, that’s where the seat belt buckle is, and my phone has switched to the left front to avoid the extra stress compression of the buckle side. It’s easier to pull the phone out on the left while I’m stopped at the curb or at a light. 

    The consistency makes it harder to forget anything. 

    • #41
  12. Samuel Block Support
    Samuel Block
    @SamuelBlock

    Admittedly, I am a tad outnumbered here, but I still believe that it is all of you who are the weird ones.

    Also, there’s this.

    • #42
  13. Randy Webster Inactive
    Randy Webster
    @RandyWebster

    If the cashiers want the bills all arranged, they can do it.

    Left front, keys and change if I have any. Right front, nothing.  Left hip pocket, wallet.  Right hip pocket, handkerchief.

    For 40 years, my keys have been in my pocket, in the ignition, or in a basket by the back door.

    • #43
  14. Cato Rand Inactive
    Cato Rand
    @CatoRand

    I carry the same stuff every day – wallet, keys, change, chap stick, ear buds and phone, and wallet is always in the rear right pocket with the rest in front pockets, but there’s no rhyme or reason to left or right pocket for that stuff.  Hence the “keys in the wrong pocket when my arms are full” problem, which I can fully relate to.

    • #44
  15. Spin Inactive
    Spin
    @Spin

    I have only one pocket rule, which comes in to play when I travel:  my passport goes in my left front pocket and nothing else.  That’s so I always know where it is, and it doesn’t accidentally fall out if I pull something else out of my pocket.  

    In the normal course of business, I am like the line in your OP:  whatever hand is holding my groceries / laptop bag / coffee, the keys are in that same pocket.  Meaning I have to stand at the door and shuffle all my stuff around. 

    My dad is exactly the opposite, and I have thought on this a lot over the last several decades of adult hood.   I know there are a lot of ways to categorize personality types, but let us invent two more today and we’ll name them after my dad’s and my own nicknames:  The Spin Personality and the Butch Personality.  I am a Spin who tried for many years to be a Butch. 

    A Butch is someone who derives energy and value in any of the following:

    A place for everything, everything in its place.

    A standard daily, disciplined practice for every day life, with little variation unless required.

    Everything perfect or as close to perfection as humanly possible.

    Flowers (or anything else) planted in a straight row exactly x inches apart.  

    Everything is kept, adjusted, fixed until it cannot possibly fixed again.

    Do things the family way, do not stray from the path the family.

    That’s just a partial list, and none of that is bad in any way.  It’s just a list of things my dad derives value from.

    A Spin, by contrast, is a person who derives energy and value from any of the following:

    Constant change, anything new or different

    Getting rid of things

    Trying something new or different

    Creating something new

    Planting the flowers in a bunch

    Finding a better way to do things

    Meeting new people

    I would articulate the difference between a Spin and a Butch is primarily about creativity and stability.  Dad likes things to be predictable and stable.  I like things to be different every day, to be weird, and unpredictable.  Dad thinks his way is the practical, responsible way (and frankly, he is largely correct).  I think my way is the way forward to new and better things (and frankly, I am largely correct, too). 

    But it is also the source of much contention, such as one argument he and I had over contact lenses.  “You’ve lost another contact lens?!  What the hell is wrong with you?  I’ve had the same glass contact lenses since 19whatever!”  It is true:  he wore the same glass contact lenses for like 30 years.  But even though I was scatter-brained, in his mind, I was able to try different types and styles of contact lenses and found ones that were disposable, better for my eyes, more comfortable, and pretty dang cheap.  

    Anyway…

     

     

     

     

    • #45
  16. Belt Inactive
    Belt
    @Belt

    Okay, I’m pretty typical, I guess.

    Left Front: Wallet

    Right Front: Swiss army knife, cell phone, car keys, coins

    Right front coin pocket when I’m wearing jeans gets my flash drive and key fob, otherwise they go in the right front pocket.  The flash drive and fob are on a small key ring with a dog tag with my name and phone number on it in case they get lost.

    The back pockets may be used as temporary storage, but it’s rare.

    When I’m regularly wearing a jacket or coat, the car keys and coins go in its right pocket.  My cell phone might end up in the left pocket.

    • #46
  17. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    Samuel Block (View Comment):

    Admittedly, I am a tad outnumbered here, but I still believe that it is all of you who are the weird ones.

    Also, there’s this.

    Everyone knows you carry hot dogs in the front pocket . . .

    • #47
  18. Judge Mental Member
    Judge Mental
    @JudgeMental

    Stad (View Comment):

    Samuel Block (View Comment):

    Admittedly, I am a tad outnumbered here, but I still believe that it is all of you who are the weird ones.

    Also, there’s this.

    Everyone knows you carry hot dogs in the front pocket . . .

    Front shirt pocket.  Or inside left pocket on a jacket.  Like a fine cigar.

    • #48
  19. Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw Member
    Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw
    @MattBalzer

    Bishop Wash (View Comment):
    Once I forgot to throw my keys in checked luggage. Instead of losing another knife I decided to throw them in my backpack hoping they’d be overlooked. They were. Thanks TSA. 

    I had a Leatherman in my backpack once that made it through on my outbound trip but not on the return.

    • #49
  20. Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw Member
    Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw
    @MattBalzer

    Spin (View Comment):
    But it is also the source of much contention, such as one argument he and I had over contact lenses. “You’ve lost another contact lens?! What the hell is wrong with you? I’ve had the same glass contact lenses since 19whatever!” It is true: he wore the same glass contact lenses for like 30 years. But even though I was scatter-brained, in his mind, I was able to try different types and styles of contact lenses and found ones that were disposable, better for my eyes, more comfortable, and pretty dang cheap.

    I didn’t know contact lenses lasted that long. If nothing else I’d expect you’d need a new prescription.

    • #50
  21. Spin Inactive
    Spin
    @Spin

    Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw (View Comment):

    Spin (View Comment):
    But it is also the source of much contention, such as one argument he and I had over contact lenses. “You’ve lost another contact lens?! What the hell is wrong with you? I’ve had the same glass contact lenses since 19whatever!” It is true: he wore the same glass contact lenses for like 30 years. But even though I was scatter-brained, in his mind, I was able to try different types and styles of contact lenses and found ones that were disposable, better for my eyes, more comfortable, and pretty dang cheap.

    I didn’t know contact lenses lasted that long. If nothing else I’d expect you’d need a new prescription.

    His did.  But they were glass.  And I often wondered myself about the prescription.

    • #51
  22. Clavius Thatcher
    Clavius
    @Clavius

    Percival (View Comment):

    Clavius (View Comment):

    The real problem comes with air travel. That nice pen knife with a one inch blade is now forbidden. I’ve lost at least four to the TSA.

    Everything goes into the checked baggage.

    Only if you have checked baggage and remember.

    • #52
  23. aardo vozz Member
    aardo vozz
    @aardovozz

    @mattbalzer, I read your post title and was going to respond with “Or are you just happy to see us?”🤔

     

    • #53
  24. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Some of you are agents of chaos.

    • #54
  25. Slow on the uptake Coolidge
    Slow on the uptake
    @Chuckles

    Spin (View Comment):
    I have only one pocket rule, which comes in to play when I travel: my passport goes in my left front pocket and nothing else. That’s so I always know where it is, and it doesn’t accidentally fall out if I pull something else out of my pocket.

    I’ve known several whose passport was pickpocketed while out of the country (and one where they simply forgot it) so now I am fanatical about where it’s kept.  Depends upon planned activity but that’s one of my choices if I can’t go deep inside an inner coat pocket.  Have even been known to put it inside my shirt.

    • #55
  26. Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw Member
    Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw
    @MattBalzer

    Arahant (View Comment):

    Some of you are agents of chaos.

    I’m happy to let it be as long as it’s not messing with me. I’m trying to figure out if I always had a strategy and as best I can remember I’ve always had my wallet in the front left pocket because that was the most convenient for me, and everything else kind of fell into place around that.

    The strategy of transferring every item from one pair of pants to another came later, I think as a result of having to carry several other items that were required.

    • #56
  27. Buckpasser Member
    Buckpasser
    @Buckpasser

    Yes.

     

    The older I get the more I need to stick to a routine in all aspects of my life.

    • #57
  28. Umbra Fractus Inactive
    Umbra Fractus
    @UmbraFractus

    Matt Bartle (View Comment):

    Next you’ll be telling me that people don’t organize the bills in their wallets so that they are face-forward, right-side-up, and in order of value. It’s unthinkable.

    Now that’s just crazy talk!

    • #58
  29. Umbra Fractus Inactive
    Umbra Fractus
    @UmbraFractus

    Now to answer the OP:

    Right front: Phone (I have a Samsung Galaxy S9+, so it takes up a lot of space)

    Left Front: Wallet (really more of a card holder. I’m as close to cashless as a man can get in today’s world.) and keys

    (Left) Shirt: A little bluetooth receiver that I can plug regular headphones into

    Watch: Pill case in case I expect to need it

    Both back pockets usually empty, but occasionally used for temporary storage of flat items such as receipts, tissues, or cash.

    Of all of these the keys are most likely to be in the “wrong” pocket. Sometimes I’ll clip them to a belt loop.

    • #59
  30. Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw Member
    Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw
    @MattBalzer

    Umbra Fractus (View Comment):
    Of all of these the keys are most likely to be in the “wrong” pocket. Sometimes I’ll clip them to a belt loop.

    Also a strategy I’ve seen for those with lots of keys. Sometimes with a retractable cord so they don’t need to be taken off the belt.

    • #60
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