Table For One: when did we become a purse-hating society?

From the time I could walk, I'm pretty sure I carried a purse. My mom fostered my love of handbags, and soon enough, I was buying my own purses to add to my collection. I'm obsessed with purses. The bigger, the better (that's what she said). They are investments - items I care for, things I can share with Amara.

So how is it we have become such a purse-hating society?

First the NFL with their no-handbag policy, like the Browns at First Energy Stadium (good thing I lost the Dawg Pound tickets in the divorce) and now an amusement park?!?

I'm a planner. For Heaven's sake, I lived 10 minutes from Geauga Lake growing up. I now am half an hour from Cedar Point. And I served as a Disney Parks Moms. Theme parks...kinda my thing.

For several years, I have brought along the same 9-inch by 2-inch Coach crossbody purse (not the one pictured, promise) with me to every concert and amusement park. It's large enough to fit my wallet, hand sanitizer, keys and lip gloss - all the necessities. I check my destination's website, identifying prohibited items, just to be safe. So imagine my surprise when Amara and I boarded a roller coaster at Morey's Piers while on vacation, and I was immediately told by an employee to hand over my purse.

Whoa. What?

I'm told it's park policy. I cannot ride with my purse, a purse that clearly swung over my body, fit comfortably between the seat and my side and locked under the seatbelt.

I looked at the posted restrictions at the operator's stand. It politely asks to "please not bring personal items" on the ride, but purses are not specifically listed as a "prohibited" item. Yet the ride operators had no problem reminding me they are not responsible for any items stolen while I was on the coaster.

So let me get this straight.

I looked online prior to leaving Ohio. The website reads, "Please take measures to secure all loose items prior to riding slides and attractions," leaving me to believe I can take my purse on any ride.

Then the park sign "kindly" requests I leave my purse off the ride.

But ultimately a park employee demands a single mom to turn over her purse and risk losing all of its contents, including her wallet, hand sanitizer, keys and lip gloss.

Amusement park officials, let me translate this for you in mom-speak: no wallet means no credit cards, no cash and no ID. I can't buy food or souvenirs. Amara can't play games. But more importantly, you leave helpless a single mom and her daughter hundreds of miles away from home. 

Morey's, I did my homework, so why are you punishing me? Post the correct rules. Toss up a disclaimer. Or don't take away my purse.

As always, if you see a Mom sitting - with her purse - at a table on her own, it’s likely me. Come say hi. Or visit me at Mom2Amara.com.