The time has come to relate this tale (though some of you are intimately familiar with it). I was enticed into purchasing a subscription to Jane Magazine a couple years ago, partly because they promised a “Free Fashion Bag”! The picture of the purse made it look like a nice messenger-like sachel, in olive green with a millitary vibe.

Well, the purse arrived, and it was a teeny tiny little purse:

Weensy! I wish I had the original promotion to see how they shot it to make it look about 5 times bigger than it was. I assume there was dramatic lighting, a low point of view, or a child model involved. I tried to take photos that attempted to make the bag look bigger and I just can’t. Not even surrounding the bag with tiny robots could make the bag look any bigger.

Funnily enough, it has turned out to be very handy when travelling. I can cram my keys, wallet, cell phone and camera into it, and it’s simple and small.

I told my sister Annie the story of the bag, and she saw a level of humor in the tale that I had not seen before. The Tiny Bag! Now, every time she sees the Tiny Bag, she cracks up.

When I was in Cambridge last month, Annie and I (sporting the Tiny Bag) went on a quick thrifting expedition. We were browsing the aisles at a shop in Central Square, when a lady walked up to me. The following interaction ensued:

Unknown Lady: Girrrrrrrl, you got that bag with a subscription!

Becky (as a feeling of total surreality envelopes her): Um, yes, I did!

Annie: (begins guffawing)

Unknown Lady: I was pissed! I cancelled that subscription!

Becky: I didn’t, obviously…oh god…

Annie and Becky: (helpless laughter)

The Tiny Bag started off as a little ember of funny, and has grown steadily into a roaring conflagration of hilarity payoff. And I will continue using it with cringing pride. And hope to attract another fellow subscription victim.

Not exactly the sort of tiny that I love!