Chron columnist Leah Garchik is one of the coolest people I know, so I was disturbed to discover that I've been breaking one of my former colleague's cardinal rules: using those beneath-the-table/bar-hooks for my bag. However, after asking her about the issue, I think I might become a "purse on the floor" kind of person. Maybe you will, too?

In her column this weekend, Garchik says:

Use those little handbag hangers that clip on the side of the table only at home, perhaps for drying hand-washed dainties. Public use only offers proof that elegant women can be dorks.

Oh, no! I can't say I ever considered myself an elegant women, but I hoped not to be a dork! But these hooks are so...handy! Surely I am misinterpreting Garchik's remarks.

I emailed Garchik immediately to gain a greater understanding of what I've been doing wrong.

"I am so intrigued by this!" I wrote. "Is this really bad/dorky? Are the clips you're talking about the same thing as the hooks they have at (some) bars here in SF?"

Though this was a Sunday afternoon, Garchik is apparently never off the clock. She responded swiftly, saying:

Handbag hooks, to me, are the equivalent of tucking a tissue in one's sleeves. One is to avoid thieves, the other to avoid sneezing on one's hand. In both cases, I say, over-cautious.

Yes, one should try to avoid the worst (I keep my purse cross-body slung usually), but shouldn't be obvious about it. That said, having read a recent New Yorker piece on pick-pockets in Paris, I spent nearly every moment in the street clutching my handbag as if it were my six-month old baby. But still, there something about those hooks that reeks (of) suspicion...of the restaurant's other clientele and its standards of cleanliness.

I suppose if I carried one of those couple-a-thousand-buck purses, especially if it were yellow ostrich, I would worry about it getting a speck of dirt on it, might be tempted to hook it on the table. But I just think it looks too careful. Chic insouciance, that's the goal, even if muddled sloppiness is the effect.

While most "fashion dos and don'ts" make me feel like I'm being sold something, I think I might be buying into this argument! Like Garchik, I do not carry a "couple-a-thousand-buck purse." And one of the reasons why I don't (besides the part where I choose to spend my money on things like food and shelter instead) is because I hate the idea of looking like I am trying to hard, which I believe is the kissing cousin of "too careful." Now "chic insouciance," yeah, that I can get behind.

But undecided I remain, and am hopeful that SFist's thoughtful commenting community can help me make up my mind on this extremely pressing issue.

[Leah Garchik on SFGate]
[Pickpockets and paranoia in France/New Yorker]

Shot by Travis Jensen along the Embarcadero.

Before Tuesday's game against the Reds, Officer Michael Bushnell, the newest member of SFPD's Marine Unit, cruised by McCovey Cove to save a drowning Coach (at least we think it's Coach, maybe Michael Kors) bag.

Let's get a closer look at this heroic officer...

...very nice.

We would tire of seeing the Chrome label all around town if they started making bags that weren't so handsome yet tough-looking. But they don't, so we won't. And on that note, please check out their new bag, The Lieutenant. Perfect for those coming to SF for Pride (and want to take home a slice of SF with them) or your causal cyclist zipping about, this new sack is a waterproof messenger bag that boasts Chrome’s iconic buckle and more.

It's also got pockets with stainless steel hardware "for quick secure access to u-lock and work tools" as well as "daisy chain mounting loops for attaching carabineer clips or bike lights." But that doesn't mean this bag wouldn't look just as dandy in the back of your 2013 Lexus. Because it would. Shhh.

That said, we implore you to check it out at Chrome's SoMa store. In fact, please have your guests from out of town visit the place in lieu of buying bags or accessories at, say, HNM or Urban Outfitters. It's local. Why not? Anyway, said bag runs around $170. Check it out. You can also get a bunch of other stuff (e.g., shoes, iPad and laptop bags, socks, hats, etc.) too.

Chrome: 580 - 4th Street (at Brannan), S.F., 415-820-507

Do you miss those plastic bags that have been banished from San Francisco? Well, boo hoo! You might soon be getting a rebate for the bags you bring with you to the store! Attractive young Supervisor Ross "Boots" Mirkarimi introduced legislation today that would send paper bags packing after their forlorn plastic cousins require retailers to provide a rebate of ten cents to each customer for each bag the customer has brought and uses to carry out their purchases. The new legislation would affect the same grocery stores and pharmacies that have been forced to abandon plastic.

This is an ordinance this writer can support, but only if it includes a requirement that the virtual self-check out lady at the Safeway has to stop bitching about unknown items in the grocery bagging area whenever he plunks down his Timbuk2 bag on the scale. Good call, Ross.

The text of the proposed legislation can be found here at SF weekly. (Warning: Word Document).

While plastic bags in San Francisco aren't really banned -- look no further than Chinatown or any independently-owned liquor store to find a bag of crinkly delight -- San Francisco Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi said "he wants the city bag ban to expand throughout the Bay Area and beyond and that the plastic industry has stalled legislation." (An aside: we fully support the chutzpah of any and all SF supes who want to wield their power outside their districts... and their city.) Mirkarimi goes one step further, saying he wants to introduce an ordinance "to strengthen the city's ban to require that grocers pay a refund to customers who bring in their own canvas bags and to eventually include a ban on paper bags as well." This comes on the heels of Save the Bay revealing the top-ten plastic bag hot spots in the Bay Area.