Look behind them?

Nope. If you happen to be near a crowd today, take a look at women with purses and you'll see something common. What I'm looking for is opposite of that.

the purse is over the shoulder,but under the coat

Most woman look straight ahead and do not pay attention to anything around them. l.marie

Don't carry cash!

Nope.

Last hint then I'll give the answer.

Carrying your purse this way helps to deter pickpocketers probably because you drive on the right hand side.

Carry your purse on your right shoulder or keep purse on the right side of your body.

Carry the purse in the right hand.

Turn the purse backwards so the flap is against your body.

I'd say wear the purse on your _______ shoulder or side but I haven't a clue which would be safer.

Jodi-

CB and Hayjud are close. And Jodi needs to fill in the blank.

Carry your purse on your right side?

Turn the purse backwards so the flap is against your body.
I'd say wear the purse on your _______ shoulder or side but I haven't a clue which would be safer.

The blank is "right"

Tami

When I think about it, the driving analogy is wrong because they can come up from the left of you to grab your purse from the left side.

Actually only 1 in 1000 women carry their purses on the left shoulder. Pickpocketers find this harder to get to probably because they're used to working from the right side. I was reading an article about an ex pickpocketer who made a career of it and had some suggestions on how to avoid being the target of one. Many of the answers above were suggested by him, and one I found unusual was that new leather purses are harder to get into because the leather is still stiff.

Shoppers in supermarkets and department stores were the easiest because they were engrossed in shopping, and this was even with security cameras around. The criminals work in twos and the other partner is normally a woman who will pretend to almost walk into you. At the same time the guy will come up on the other side and unzip or unlatch your purse and get your wallet out within seconds.

So take care during this shopping season or put your money on your body somewhere. I'm guilty of being lapse but I'm quickly changing my ways.

I guess I am a rarity then because I carry mine over my left shoulder.

Me too Heather!

Not sure there's much truth to the pickpocket thing as I carry mine on the left and had my wallet picked out of it. I don't think the side has anything to do with it but not zipping my purse shut had everything to do with it. Funny thing is I'd been zipping and guarding closely until I bought some bottled water a few steps from my hotel and didn't bother zipping since my hands were full and I was going right back to the hotel. Needless to say an important lesson learned.

My purse strap goes over my head and rests on my right shoulder. That puts the actual purse resting just below my waist at high hip on my left side. My left hand holds the strap and my forearm rests at the top of the purse. Any thief is going to have to take me along with my purse. My purse never leaves my body while I am out and about, not in rest rooms, not even in restaurants.

Why on earth a woman would carry a 'hand bag' rather than a 'shoulder bag' is beyond me.

I always carry mine on my left shoulder too. I am right handed so this works better when I am shopping and picking up things, my purse doesn't get in my way.

No matter how we carry a purse, some of the websites say to clean out the wallet and purse of any unnessary stuff, like credit cards you don't use much, especially during a crowded store or during holidays. I sometimes will carry a smaller purse with just DL/checkbook and a debit card and one credit card. Then will put purse in back of trunk, BEFORE I leave home.

Well I'll be darned! I carry mine on my left shoulder (just figured I was 1 or the 999 that didn't do it right..lol) and always have. It just doesn't feel right on my right shoulde. I will not buy a purse that will not fit on my shoulder and I never put my purse in the kiddie seat of the buggy.

Well, it appears I'm one in a thousand! Would rather be considered one in a million but this will do for now. :-)

Jodi-

I don't believe that only 1 woman in a 1,000 carry their purse on their left shoulder.

I use both shoulders.

During holiday season... I usually wear jeans with deep front pockets....and only take:

driver license
$20 bill
Credit card

And I keep them all in my front pocket with my keys.

When I make my purchases, I take them to the car and put the bags in the trunk, and then move the car to another location and then continue to shop, repeating that procedure..
That's the way I havd done it for years, and have never had a problem with theft.

Carolyn

Hi Happy,

It must take a fairly large purse to stretch over both shoulders - it should be really worthwhile to pick your pocket/purse! But how could a rascal slip it away from you without you knowing? Guess s/he'd have to earn such substantial largesse.

ole joyful

.

I carry mine on my left shoulder too. That's why it caught my attention. I'll go back and read the article and see if that is in fact the stats that he quoted. I shouldn't do anything from memory anymore.

I carry mine over my left shoulder too.

Well, I must be the real oddball because I don't carry a purse. I keep a wallet in my pant's pocket and always have. I carry my keys in my hand.

I'd suspect that women are the victims of a pick-pocketers more often than men because of the "ease of access."

Joyfulguy, you're kidding, right? I meant that sometimes I use my right shoulder and sometimes my left.

It's pretty obvious that it isn't true. There's been 5 women already who say they use their left shoulder.

When I was in the Air Force, we had to wear our shoulder purses, or carry hand bag purses, on the left side. We had to carry briefcases and such with the left hand...to leave the right hand free for saluting.

It was ingrained in me...purse on the left...and I still carry or wear my purse on the left. If I "cross the strap over my chest", the strap is on my right shoulder the purse is to the left.

After all these years I still catch myself carrying shopping bags, books, etc. with my left hand.

I was in my usual daze, dashing into the Base Exchange the other day, and nearly saluted a major. Then I remembered "I'm not in uniform; I don't have to salute." Then I remembered "I've not been in uniform for nearly 18 years." Then I felt lost, and sad, and old.

Then I snapped out of it.

Some years ago, when I DID carry a purse, I was leaving a restaurant with purse strap over left shoulder, but holding on to the bag like a football....when a car eased up and someone grabbed the strap and started to accelerate away. I hung on for dear life, with doggie box in other hand until the strap broke away from the bag. My husband was amazed, said" OMG they could have dragged you away"...but I didn't even think of that....just that I was keeping my bag. Maybe I was just lucky that the strap broke free. This was in a high crime city (Modesto, Ca.) and I then started to wear a smallish fanny pac on my left=front side, sort of like a football. Nanny

had to think about, it but always wear my "wallet on a strap" over my left shoulder...

no more purses for me...comes from the days (eons ago) of having 4 kids, the oldest 4...(we had twins) and needed both hands...

I feel sure it's a handedness issue. I'm left-handed and always feel more comfortable with my purse on my right shoulder, leaving my left hand and arm free for whatever.

I'm one of the anomalies, too.....or maybe that statistic is flawed. Since I grew up in the big city, I also hold onto it. :-)

Add me to the list of women who carries her purse
on her left shoulder...

I have always carried my purse on my left shoulder.

I can't stand the feel of my purse over my left shoulder. I have a long strap on mine, and carry it criss-cross. In a sense it's on my left shoulder, but that's just the strap. The purse itself is on my right side, between my body and my arm. And often, my hand is on the purse holding the strap. My money is never in my wallet, so they can take it if they want to. I was told never to put money in your wallet if you don't want a pick pocket to take it.

Mine is always on the left. I use my right hand so it would be constantly slipping off if I wore it on the right.

I have regular purses but don't use them I weara fanny pack with the zippers over my tummy

I only have shoulder bags. I put it on over my neck so the strap is diagonal accross my chest. At least I'm not making it easy to grab my bag. One thing I notice is many women bring their purses to the supermarket and leave their bags in the child seat. I've seen bags with the money sticking out.

After my purse was stolen, I used a fanny pack for a while. A take on debby's idea, is to use a purse as a decoy, and keep your small wallet in a pocket. Thieves will focus on the purse, and won't get money or cards.

Gazania: Pls reconsider that stand that a thief is going to have to take you with the purse.

Because it's just not worth it! A thief who's annoyed and frustrated enough at your toughness could end up throwing you to the ground. You don't want the physical repercussions of that: broken bones, sprained back, who knows what else.

We should all just be smart about not carrying unnecessary stuff in our bags, whichever types we prefer; dividing money up into different places -- a jacket pocket or fanny back for most of it; and being aware of our surroundings.

well I guess I'm the one in one thousand...but I think it's cause I'm left handed...I've always carried my purse on my left shoulder...but nowdays I carry it over my head and it lays on my left side...if they want it they can have it...most of the time it has nothing of value in it...my only card is usually in my front pocket and I rarely have any cash on me!

Found the article. The author was from England which probably explains the left hand theory.

From the story:

My sister and I were among the most successful pickpocket teams in London. We worked hotel and theater lobbies, airports, shopping centers, restaurants. We're straight now, but this crime is worldwide. Here's how to protect yourself:

Professional pickpockets do not see victims, only handbags, jewelry and money. Mothers with babies, the elderly, the disabled are all fair game.

My preferred target was the lone female, handbag dangling at her side - the right side to be exact, so if I'm next to her I can reach it discreetly with my right hand across my body. Only about one woman in a thousand carries her bag on the left, and I tended to steer clear of them.

Most dippers work with a "staller," almost always a woman. She stands to the victim's right. The timing is crucial. As I move in from behind, the staller casually takes a half step closer to the target and moves her left hand - the one nearest the victim - so that her elbow juts out above the handbag, obscuring it from the victim's view, security cameras or store detectives.

Women whose bags are hanging in front of them are tricky for the pickpocket, as there isn't a blind side. If you want to make it even harder, use a bag with handles rather than a strap.

My pet peeve was the handbag with a clasp on the side and a zipper underneath. They take twice as long to do - about five seconds. Worse still are women who keep their wallets in an inside zipped pocket. And a new bag, especially one made of leather, is much stiffer, making it harder to open without the owner feeling it. Toughest of all is the fanny pack, because it's worn at the front.

A pickpocket needs targets who are relaxed and preoccupied. The perfect setting is a clothing store. Customers bustle among the racks, completely distracted as they hold up items. The presence of a uniformed security guard is even better. False reassurance makes a pickpocket's job much simpler.

Women should check that their bags are closed and held in front of them or under their arms. Men should keep a hand on their wallets.

Then the article goes on to say how he got caught and was sentenced to seven years in jail.

Reader's Digest

Pammyfay, Thank you for your concern. Really, if a thief grabbed my purse while I am walking there would be no resistance from me other than the wrenching of my neck as he pulled it away and off my head. Carrying a purse the way I carry mine and others here have said they do could result in being at least knocked to the ground and possibly unwillingly dragged (giving the appearance of resisting) as the theif tried to get away with the purse. Most of the time when I am out on the street, I use a handicapped scooter. When using the scooter, my purse is usually in the basket in front with it's long strap wrapped around the handle bars several times. That makes a grab and run almost impossible.

I have always carried my purse on my left shoulder. In the early 1990's, while on a cruise with my family, we had been shopping in Martinique and were walking back to the ship. Two guys came up behind us, and one of them hit me on the left upper arm and grabbed my purse strap. Because I hold my hand on the top of my purse, he couldn't get it from me. He pulled me out into the street, but I never let go of my purse. My brother and father chased him, so he let go of the purse. That's when we realized that his partner was about to attack my mother. My brother and father got to her before he could. They both ran away.

An hour later, those same two guys when after another woman on our ship--this time, they put a knife to her throat, so she surrendered her purse. Guess I was very lucky.

Oh, that makes more sense. I know there's more than 1 in 1000 women who carry on their left side.

I don't think the author actually meant anyone to take his comment as a fact or literally. I think he was exagerating quite a bit just to tell his story. I took the comment just to mean that most people carry their purse on the right side. And, if her did mean it literally, I think he's just wrong. I doubt any real scientific study would come up with such results.

I'm getting here late; I join the minority who wear a fanny pack, but the bag part is in the front, so it is really a tummy pack. I often wonder what women carry in those big purses?

I know that someone could cut the strap in the back, and the pack could fall; but it would fall to my feet, and chances are I could get it before the thief could.

Plus, in cold weather it would be covered by a coat or jacket.

I don't even have a purse any more.

Sue

Who ever came up with this must not have interviewed the right people...I'm another one who carries mine on my left shoulder.

Just doesn't feel right on my right.

I'm right handed and it is easier to reach over with my right hand than it would be to reach to the right with my left hand.

Must be a man who thought this up.

patti

I must be in the wrong part of the county for the 1 in a thousand hangs on the left side.
Took my girls shopping for blue jeans and took a look around at the women with purses to see if the poll was true. For the few minutes I watched I would guess it was about 50-50 left or right side. There are so many bags nowdays. Satchels, pocketbooks on straps, short straps etcs. Lots of lefties.

I'm another of the "odd person out". I can't keep my purse on my right shoulder, it always jumps to the left when I'm not paying attention. l.marie