Security Lapse - A Confession.

Don?t know why I am writing this. No one else would be this stupid. Maybe I have decided that I need to do some penance. It?s been nagging me! 

I was checking out, at the grocery store. Went through my normal routine at the cash register. Clerk was ringing up the items - bagger was bagging - I was fiddling with the card reader, with my loyalty card and credit card.

Totaled, bagged and paid, I went to pick up my wallet which I always laid on the counter in front of me as I fiddled and fussed, and it wasn?t there! WHOA! It was there, seconds ago!  ???

Panic began to set in, as I felt my pocket for the wallet - not there - - -  Dave, the guy bagging, (I?ve known him for 30 years,) got a strange, surprised look and said, ?Ray! That woman got your wallet!? He turned and started running!

Woman? What woman?  ???  I hadn?t seen any woman pick up my wallet! Had no clue! That wallet was right in front of my face, until it wasn?t!

He was back, in less than a minute, with my wallet. Big fuss!  And, he was full of apologies! Said he saw it happen and couldn?t figure out why it didn?t register for him. The clerk at the register was embarrassed. She hadn?t seen it. The lady, next in line behind me joined in. She couldn?t figure out how she missed it. ?I was right there! I should have seen it!?

The bagger told me that the lady had been in the line next to me, also checking out - at the same time. She had simply made a mistake, very surprised to find my wallet in her purse. She was apologetic and embarrassed, a bit addled. He pointed out that she was my age, and a bit confused as to how it got there. Didn?t remember picking it up. (I?m 71.)

So, it was just a little accident - one of those things that just happens - BUT!

I vowed to change a habit. I don?t lay my wallet on the counter while making a transaction, any more. It is either in my hand, or in my pocket, buttoned up. It is a bit less convenient. Well, it?s cumbersome. It irritates me that I need to do that. (I have to unbutton my pocket, take the wallet out, get the credit card (or whatever) put the wallet back, button the pocket, swipe the credit card, get the wallet out - - - you got it.) It?s been a habit, hard to change. After several months, I have a new habit.

I got a little boost, for habit changing, a couple of weeks after that event. As I was walking into the same store, Dave came over to me - - - . Ray, remember that woman that got your wallet, the other day?? ?Yes.? ?Well, she did it again! She?s not welcome in this store, anymore! Hard to imagine a woman that old doing something like that! We have our eyes open, for her, now!?

That was no mistake! That was a very smooth operation! It was practiced and perfected! How in the world do you snatch a wallet, right under the owner?s nose, while he?s using it? Easy, apparently, if you are practiced at it. Oh, yeah, and put your prejudices away. A sweet li?l ol? lady will do that to you! She may be better at it than the youthful crooks that we are wary of.

I?m still red-faced!  :-[

Ray D  :-[

Ray,

You're not alone.  We were at a buffet last week and the lady at the next table left her purse on the table not once or twice but three times when she went to the far end of the buffet line.  I saw various other people eyeing it, so I stopped by her table on my next trip and told her I had been watching her purse and that it might be a good idea to take it with her instead of leaving it on the table.  She thanked me and said she knew it was a stupid thing to do - then why??? - but she did take it the next time she went to the buffet line.  This lady was alone so a thief not only could have taken her wallet with money and identification but perhaps airline tickets, valued photos, and the like.  Wonder what she was thinking!

ArdraF

I haven't carried a wallet for many years.  Cash is in a money clip and credit cards and ID are in the front pocket with the cash.  The most used credit card is on top so I can pull it out without removing anything else from my pocket.  The only time the credit card leaves my possession is when it has to be run by the clerk.  When they ask for my ID, I can pull my driver's license out but it doesn't leave my hand while they examine it.  If I need one of the other cards, I pull the pack out, find the card I need, and put the rest back in the pocket.

If I feel insecure in an area, I keep my hand in my pocket so it can't be picked.

A bit more  20/20 hindsight. 8)

Standing in line, I take may wallet out, extract the debit card, put the card in my shirt pocket and the wallet back in my pants pocket.  I transact the card, get my receipt and change, and then put the whole schmeer back in my wallet and go.  Long sad experience in low bars and similar premises of dubious repute have taught me never to lay my wallet down in public places.   

Likewise, similar experience has taught me never to lay any thing I do not want to lose on the roof or body of an automobile.  I have contributed a number of gas caps and small tools to the national litter problem in that fashion. 

Carl L said:

.... extract the debit card, put the card in my shirt pocket and the wallet back in my pants pocket.

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As a boater, I thought you might have quit that habit a long time ago Carl. Them plastic cards easily slip out of a shirt pocket and they don't float. I've had the same thing happen on dry land and the card disappeared somewhere inaccessible.

Ned said:

I haven't carried a wallet for many years.  Cash is in a money clip and credit cards and ID are in the front pocket with the cash.  The most used credit card is on top so I can pull it out without removing anything else from my pocket.  The only time the credit card leaves my possession is when it has to be run by the clerk.  When they ask for my ID, I can pull my driver's license out but it doesn't leave my hand while they examine it.

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I do exactly the same thing, Ned, although I've gone one step farther.  My credit card company allows me to have a picture of myself on the credit card.  I haven't had my driver's license out of its little folder in years.  Another benefit of not carrying a wallet is that I don't sit slanted in the seat for long trips.  I've got a bad back, and the thick wallet was making me sit out of alignment.

-Dave

Ray D said:

. He pointed out that she was my age, and a bit confused as to how it got there. Didn?t remember picking it up. (I?m 71.)

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Apparently a very effective cover....... ;D

Yeah! That got me! Who's on the lookout for elderly female gangsters?  ???  :

Tom said:

As a boater, I thought you might have quit that habit a long time ago Carl. Them plastic cards easily slip out of a shirt pocket and they don't float. I've had the same thing happen on dry land and the card disappeared somewhere inaccessible.

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Well, I actually never stood in a checkout line on a boat, Tom.  On my own tub, I kept my wallet and keys in a floatable box in the cuddy cabin.    On someone  else's boat, I keep it in a buttoned pocket.

Carl,

I guess you've never had the pleasure of seeing your credit card "float" to the bottom  ;D  It does kinda "float", but is really sinking 

Same as Ned. Haven't carried a wallet in many years. Cash and only necessary cards in the front pant pocket. Seriously doubt that anyone could get their hand in there without me noticing it :