I attended my first Gopher football game last Saturday for the first time since I had season tickets 25 years ago. I met up with a college friend and her family, and we left for the game. I’d expected they’d want to possibly search my backpack and I’d have to dump out my water bottle. I didn’t expect them to tell me I couldn’t bring in my backpack. I took it as an inconvenience, so I asked if I could check it somewhere. Again no, I could not. I asked them what else I could do. They said I could bring it back to my car. That’s problematic — my car is 200 miles away. I get a shrug.

After divvying up my stuff, we decide to go in a different line and give it another shot. After showing how empty my backpack was the stadium attendant told me under his breath, “just carry it like a purse.”

And there’s the double standard. Women carry in purses that look like fancy leather backpacks and handbags the size of small duffels, and others carry in those stuff sacks with cords that allow you to carry them like backpacks. I’m a mom who packs for every scenario.

Thankfully it was a warm, sunny day; otherwise there would have been fleece, rain gear, etc. to bring along. My suggestion would be either have a place to check things, a line to search all large bags or give backpacks the same pass the purses get.

That temporary hiccup aside, my kids and I had a great time at the game! I love the new stadium, and there was a lot more student energy for the team than when I was in school. Congratulations Gophers!