Now that you have discovered the helpful world of incontinence products and are planning to exercise your new confidence and freedom by getting out on the town, there is that little issue of how to discreetly pack 'a change'.

This is where women have the advantage over men. With a lifetime's experience of hauling capacious handbags, taking along a slim profiled disposable brief presents no privacy challenge to the fair sex whatsoever. All a lady has to do is remember to toss in a little disposal bag and some adult wipes along with the undies and she's off to that luncheon with the girls, well prepared for any giggle or bump in the road that should come her way.

Men, if you haven’t already, you are now going to have to loosen up about the man-purse thing. European males are light years ahead of their American counterparts; they have been slinging 'murses' (man-purses) for decades and probably without a thought as to how handy the bags may prove in their individual futures. But if after you have tried to adapt and you find you really are old school, not graduating to that level of European enlightenment, you will need to take a look at some other options.

Our culture offers the inhibited American male several socially acceptable forms of the man-purse. There are those mini backpacks that are popular with the athletic community these days but (gasp!) they are often listed on shopping sites as mini backpack purses. Then there is the zipped inner-pocket of a quality windbreaker jacket you could stash your briefs in if the weather is appropriate. But with both of these options, there is the potential for them being forgotten on the bus or in the dining room and leaving you in a lurch. If you are a more progressive type, you could use a laptop bag for this function. But remember, dragging it onto the bus for a day trip to admire the autumn leaves is perhaps going to raise more questions than you want to deal with.

Leaving the laptop bag option open to those who are actually going to hang out at a Wi-Fi spot, there remains that ever practical pouch called the fanny pack. Appropriate in our case, this belted pack is called a 'bum bag' in other parts of the English speaking world. There are culture snobs who wouldn’t be caught dead wearing a fanny pack because they fear it immediately identifies them as an unhip tourist. But most likely if you are reading this article, you have long since graduated beyond any such personal insecurity about hipness. No doubt life enjoyment and practicality win the day for you as they should and the fanny pack is just the ticket for packing your 'change'. Hands-free and always at your side, there's a style for every taste with compartments for everything from sunglasses and cameras to absorbent underwear.

Your final logistical consideration, regardless of which take-along method you choose, should be to remember the wipes (several in a tiny sandwich bag will work) and disposal bag (a plastic grocery bag can do the trick) for that inevitable short trot from stall to trash receptacle.

Getting out and about now should require little more than determining which fashion statement you want to make. You may surprisingly discover that you can add a little flair to being discreet.