Good reminder to never ever put your purse in the cart, even if you think you're smart to secure it with the child seat belts.

My bag is worn cross-chest, leaving my hands free.

Good news that you didn't have a terrible loss!

Some years ago a friend had her purse stolen from a shopping cart....2 women came by and started paying attention to her grandbaby sitting in the cart, one got her attention while the other took the purse and left. Clever, it's not something you would think you had to watch out for...

The manager of one of our grocery stores told me that there are a lot of purse snatchers in grocery and other stores and so far they haven't caught one of the culprits. I always carry my purse with me when I leave my cart - but I stupidly turned for one second when the produce at said grocery store sprayed while I was standing there and put both of my new size 8 black leather gloves in the cart - well they were taken. I know someone who lost her I-Pad that way. When I get to the car with my purchases, before unloading the groceries I always put my purse in the car. So many woman leave their purses open, wallets sticking out while they wander the various depts.

Good warning.

The owner of a small grocery store once "stole" my purse to show me how easily it can be taken when it's placed in a cart. I haven't put one in a cart since.

When ya all gonna push for pockets in your clothing?

o j

The nicest greeter at my WalMart found my purse, a whilst back, and he took it "returns". I had left it in the cart.

When I was returning to the store, I asked him if he had found it, and he took me by the arm and we got it.

He told me to check my purse to make sure everything was in it and nothing missing.

Since then, every time I see him, he pulls a buggy out for me and reminds me to not forget my purse when I leave.

Oh I am terrible about putting my purse in the child seat. The bag I have now has a leather strap and slips off the shoulder of my winter jacket. I put the bag in the seat and then put my hand through the strap and grab the handle of the cart. I am sure there are times when I turn away or let go of it. Hope I don;t learn my lesson the hard way.It just gets in the way if it is hanging from my should er as I shop.I wish the strap were the cross body kind, but it is too short.

Around this time of year, I don't bring my purse into stores. I keep my keys, cash and one credit card in my coat pocket.

I wear a side slung small purse

At Target (my favorite store) a few months ago I left my coupon holder containing 100's dollars of coupons in the baby seat in my cart. My husband was with me so he had the money. I left the cart a few feet away to get some Altoids off the rack. When I returned it was gone. Could not believe it. While I would never ever leave my pocketbook, but a plastic coupon holder? I saw two young males walking quickly way up the main aisle. I immediately went to the manager who reviewed the video but I was in a blank spot. I knew once these punks saw it was cat coupons and others that they'd maybe ditch it. I looked everywhere on shelves in the back by the abandoned cart but nothing. A few days later the manager called and said they had found it shoved behind merchandise. So lesson learned. They steal ANYTHING!!

Lilly, I'm sure the kids thought it was some kind of a wallet.

I can't take only a wallet to the grocery store because I'm apt to leave it on the child seat! I have been very fortunate to have it returned to the store, twice, I believe.

teddybear -- Salvation Army got an extra $20 from me last year. I'd driven back to the grocery and was able to reclaim my purse at customer service!

Now I take only my driver's license, auto insurance card, and a credit card when I know I'm just going to the grocery, drug store, etc. I put these in a pocket in my clothing -- not a coat pocket.

Now I only lose my shopping list or my gloves. (Time to sew mitten clips onto my coat sleeves!)

I had a scare just last week. I was shopping with my granddaughter. I was looking in a meat case. Another lady walked up and was looking, too. When I turned around my cart was gone. My purse was in the seat. I panicked. I looked around quickly to see if I saw the cart and lady. They were gone. Shortly here came the lady with my cart. She had taken it by mistake. We chatted a little and I thanked her. My cart now is always in front of me and in my sight at all times.. Taught me a valuable lesson that day..

chisue - I am thinking of sewing strings to my gloves as well. It is easy to lose one while reaching for a parking chit etc. - but a whole pair! My husband has lost 3 scarves over the past year. He puts them into the sleeve of his coat - and they fall out. Not impressed. And one of them was my black one that he wore by mistake.

Also in the parking lots. A senior citizen got robbed around 7pm in our mall parking lot. Someone just walked up to her and snatched her purse. She was 67 and imagine upset. What makes it bad is before we had our large oil boom, something like that never happened and many of the people who have lived here for years are not use to big--and small city crime. Everyone here is still too trusting. I try to put my purse in the car first, and I usually keep my car keys in my pocket.

I use a cross-body purse/bag. It's very comfortable and distributes the purse's weight so well I hardly know I'm carrying it.

More importantly, the purse sits in the perfect place, just between my left arm and the center of my body.

I can get into it easily without taking it off. It works over or under my coat. I can set the purse up on a checkout counter without taking the strap off or away from my body. I can even leave it on if I have to visit the Ladies.

I can put the large flap side toward my body, too. It's at a natural height so as I walk my left hand is usually over the top of the purse. As natural as a gun belt! LOL

It's a very secure feeling. Someone would have the cut the strap, and me, to get it off.

Mine sits 2-3 inches lower on my body than how these are shown. It seems the perfect "height" for me. Mine is a made from a denim-type fabric. The strap is about 1 1/4 inches wide, not as bulky as these appear to be, and is made from the same material as the bag.

This post was edited by caroline on Mon, Dec 2, 13 at 16:50

Daughter and her friend were at a popular coffee place. Daughter's friend placed her purse under chair.

They got up to leave and the purse was gone.

Iphone/smartphones are very popular items, too.

I always try to get skirts & trousers that have pockets.

Crowded shopping venues are more risky;
thieves are more active when stores & malls are crowded during the Christmas shopping season, during tax-free back-to-school shopping, pre-Thanksgiving grocery shopping, etc.

You can lose your purse or have it stolen in bathrooms, too.

The other day I stopped at a fast food place for a snack, went to wash up in the ladies room, & there was a purse on the back of the commode.

Luckily, the woman who owned it realized that she had left it, & she saw me returning it to the cashier.

but professional thieves will go into bathrooms in malls & such & reach over the door to take purses off the hooks.

Look for a restroom that has hooks at a lower level (too low for someone to reach over the door), or find one that has a pulldown baby-changing table, or at least put your purse on the back of the commode *& remember to pick it up*!

If you were to hang it on a strap around your neck ...

... would you worry about being accused of being "hung over"?

Or is that just for when you hang it on the hanger in the bathroom stall?

o j

I'm always amazed at how many women I see who put their purses in their carts. Some of those purses are open. Occasionally, I see money or open wallets sticking out of them! Often, I see women turn away from their carts to leisurely inspect the produce they're buying. Mind you, this same supermarket has a sigh by the customer service desk that states, "DO NOT GO TO YOUR CAR ALONE. ASK FOR SOMEONE TO ACCOMPANY YOU". And this is a very NICE town, not a supermarket in a ghetto. And yet every time I go to that store, I see at least 2-3 DOZEN women not minding their purses.

Thinking it's safe to hook the purse to the baby seatbelt? That's not a preventative--anyone can just grab the cart and walk away with it, removing the purse at their leisure when they're out of sight.

My wallet was pick pocketed at a restaurant in the same shopping center some years back. One woman distracted me, while another reached into my purse and took the wallet. Before I'd finished my dinner, they'd crossed the bridge to the next state and attempted to use my CC 4 times!

I hope, those of you who aren't taking your purses in, aren't leaving them in the car. The crooks sit in the parking lots of shopping centers, theaters and gyms, watching for women who don't carry purses--then they pop the trunk to look for the purse.

I really hate wearing a cross-body bag, but I do when I'm shopping in a busy place. And I've gone to using a security purse. It's just too easy for someone to help themselves to your stuff these days, and too many who think it's okay to do so,.

That's why I wear a fanny pack