I do understand why we are asked to comply with safety requirements, but I brought up the pocketbook because it's one that really frustrates me. I can keep a hardcover book in my seat to read during take-off and landing, but can't keep an even smaller wallet? When I carry a purse, it's a bag and I treat it as such. But to be reprimanded by a FA over a 7" x 4" x 1.5" pocketbook is different. It weighs less than my copy of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix!

These requests chafe for two reasons: (1) they're inconsistent between flights - some crews are more lax about specific stowage than others, and (2) they're not always logical - why can you hold a lap child, but not a laptop?