Hands off the cart!

[pageantmama]

Never, never, EVER leave your purse in a cart/stroller/etc. Even for a second. That's all it takes for a pro.

Also watch out for 'teams.' One person says something like, they forgot their glasses so could you read the label for them. While your back is turned, the other takes items out of your purse. You might not know you're missing anything for hours.

Also, when carrying a purse, hang the purse strap so the purse hangs in front of you, not behind you. It's harder to get into it that way.

Don't put your purse in the car, like in the front seat, and then start putting stuff in your car. People watch for that. The same for leaving it in the cart while you load your car; it will be gone in a blink.

When I am shopping I have the kids so when I put my youngest in the front part of the cart, I wrap the seat belt through my purse strap and then buckle him in(it has a short strap that you carry, not that you put on your shoulder) I also have a big clip that I pin on the opening of the purse where the zipper zips and unzips so that you have to take it off before you can unzip it. It is sometimes annoying to have to do that every time I want to pay but after years of having my purse in a cart with kids that can unzip and throw everything out of your purse it is worth it as a precaution against kids and thieves And I put my purse in the side door while I am strapping one kid in the car seat, then shut and lock that door and go to the other side to load the other kid and the groceries so that my purse can't get taken out of the door on the other side.

[Indigo]

We have the same problem at my University - it's especially bad in the dorms. People will leave their rooms unlocked while they go down the hall to hang out with friends, take a shower, or go to the front door to pick up food. I had to constantly get on some of my old roommates because they couldn't understand why I'd get so upset about them doing that - until I pointed out that if my stuff got stolen because of their stupidity, I was going to sue them and their parents for it. How hard is it to lock the door and bring your keys with you?

[DeltaSierra]

The university I did undergrad at had a similar problem with theft. Many were the times I saw reminders in the school paper and on signs all over campus to not leave your backpack/mp3 player unattended or your car/office/dorm/locker/whatever unlocked. Thieves in the area knew the students were easy targets because so many were just so trusting. I suspect the university tended to attract the naive. I mean, sure, a lot of one's fellow students were the honest type, but a lot of the dishonest types knew this and took advantage of it.

They just put up a bunch of posters all over the library at my college (I'm there now - I SHOULD be studying Urinalysis but I'm goofing off ) saying "WATCH YOUR VALUABLES - THERE ARE THIEVES AT WORK!" - apparently no less than 10 laptops and various phones/mp3 players/ipads/etc have been stolen in the last month when students got up to get a book/use the bathroom/print stuff. The admin thinks there's a professional group at work as what's happening is a student will get up to do something and somebody will approach them asking if they know where to find a book, or use the photocopiers, etc and their accompliace makes off with the goods. This is a technical university, EVERYBODY has a laptop (heck I can count 50 easily right now) and many have e-readers, ipads, etc and the theives have realized its easy pickings here. Its a pain though that every time I want to use the bathroom, make a photocopy, or get a book, I have to put my laptop in my backpack and take it with me.

[Kogarashi]

The university I did undergrad at had a similar problem with theft. Many were the times I saw reminders in the school paper and on signs all over campus to not leave your backpack/mp3 player unattended or your car/office/dorm/locker/whatever unlocked. Thieves in the area knew the students were easy targets because so many were just so trusting. I suspect the university tended to attract the naive. I mean, sure, a lot of one's fellow students were the honest type, but a lot of the dishonest types knew this and took advantage of it.

[JPD]

I work at a grocery store, and it amazes me how easy it would be to make a decent haul here, especially working as a team. At least every shift I can see at least two, if not more, purses that, if I was a thief, I could easily take.

I do know that in the past we have had at least one purse stolen in the past here, but I am surprised more aren't taken.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I always carry my wallet in my front pocket. Anybody who wishes to gank it will have to give me a reach-around.

Also it doesn't hurt my butt when I'm sitting.

[Andara Bledin]

Not just Tetris. 3D Tetris, in my case.

That'd be Blockout, then.

^-.-^

[Jay 2K Winger]

I just tell 'em that years of playing Tetris will do wonders for knowing how to fit things together.

Not just Tetris. 3D Tetris, in my case.

On another board I used to frequent, there was an "Arcade" full of Flash games, and it kept high scores on every game. I was consistently #1 on the 3D Tetris game, by a huge margin. (Their scores were like 200 to 300. My scores were routinely around 5000. That kind of difference.)

Someone asked me on that board how my score was always so high. I told them, "Because I don't bother going for anything less than the full four-layer Tetris. It adds up."

[Andara Bledin]

Both my mother and I have been stopped by people who want to know our secret on how we load our carts. They are always amazed at how much we can get into our carts.

I just tell 'em that years of playing Tetris will do wonders for knowing how to fit things together.

Reason # 192 why I do not own a purse. Whatever I need, it has to fit in my wallet in a pocket.

I'm like this, too. The essentials are on my person in such a way that I will feel it if someone tries to lift my stuff. If I do carry a bag of some sort, it's for oddments such as sketchbooks, binders, coupons, gadgets, toys, games, etc. The money and ID stay on my person.

^-.-^

[Clover]

The only reason I carry a full sized bag at all is because I usually have my two cameras (a digital and a video) with me, along with a notebook, sketchbook, umbrella, wallet, pack of female items and a few other odds and ends that I keep with me. However, if I do end up having to get a hysterectomy (I seem to have endemetriosis, so either my entire uterus or my tubes will probably have to be taken out. Honestly, I'd rather they just took the whole thing) then I will probably just go back to carrying a wallet and leave the rest of the stuff at home, or keep a carrying case strictly for the cameras with me.

[Can I Help Your A$$?]

Reason # 192 why I do not own a purse. Whatever I need, it has to fit in my wallet in a pocket.

[Pagan]

This is why I have a cross-body purse. The body of the bag is right under my elbow. Anybody tries to get in it is going to get an up close and personal introduction to my elbow....and I have sharp elbows.

[PepperElf]

a backpack style one, pretty big

heh that reminds me of the backpacks my BF and I use to use to go grocery shopping in Japan on base.

We wouldn't leave them in the carts either mainly because... well they were already on our backs. they were great for hauling the groceries back though, cos we didn't like paying for cabs when we didn't need them.

His: Kifaru Xray My Molle Express:

well kinda. his is in multicam® and mine's in black. with side pouches.
(so no, that's not my bf's name tape on the xray)

pretty hard to snatch those off tho... when they're on our backs

[Indigo]

I don't know the circumstances behind people poking through your cart, but in a lot of the supermarkets here, they put drastically-price-reduced stuff into carts. These are usually at the front of the store — but not always, so it's just possible that if someone sees a cart full of "things" they might assume it's a bunch of stuff put out for a really fast sale.

If your cart is in the middle of an aisle ... well, they're just nosy idiots.

Nope, it always seems to be in the middle of the aisle, while I'm standing at the cart and flipping through my coupons - so its not like they can even say they thought it was an abandoned cart. A simple "What do you think you're doing?" tends to shock them back into reality for that.

I just hate the people who think my coupons are free to flip through - after I tell them to stop they do the "But I just want to loooook." Seriously, what part of "NO" did you not get? I looked at one woman and told her "I don't go through your purse, do I? Leave my frikkin coupons alone!" and she got pissy with me.

[RedRoseSpiral]

Mom has only wandered off once while I wasn't watching the cart with her purse in it. Of course that ended up being the time my uncle happened to be shopping at the same time and nabbed it to teach her a lesson.