Supermarket shopping

[Helen_Highwater]

So you're out supermarket shopping, you're pushing a trolley (cart) around. How many hang their handbag (purse) on the hook at the back of the trolley? As it's something my SO does, it's something I've copied. However not all GG's do as I suppose they prefer to keep hold of their handbags.

If we're out supermarket shopping together, me in drab, she still does it but I often get the job of pushing the trolley. If we get separated I sometimes get little smiles off folks as they see a man walking around with "his" handbag. If only they knew!

[Lana Mae]

I placed my purse in the child seating area of the cart as I have no child to sit there! I have not seen a hook on any shopping carts here! My next big step re: dressing is to carry a purse/bag in male mode! I have seen backpacks being used but so far no male with a purse out of a school area(messenger bags and such!)! I have a nice Relic brownish/tan purse I think would be perfect and it is a crossbody bag! Hugs Lana Mae

[Allisa]

Helen I always put my purse in the child seat, but please remember it's there and do not roam far from it when reaching for goods on the shelf. Lana I've been carrying my purse a nondescript brown shoulder bag for a good 2 or 3 yrs. now. I don't even have my old male wallet anymore, my female wallet needs my purse it doesn't fit in my pockets anyway.

[biancabellelover]

Slightly off topic, but...

A good idea is to clip your handbag or shoulder bag to your shopping trolley with a carabiner. This will help prevent theft.

Michelle.

[susan54]

I keep my handbag about my person at all times. Cash, cards, car and house keys plus the embarrassment of having to sort out the consequences of any theft are horrible to contemplate. I don't find hanging on to my bag at all inconvenient. If it turned out to be, I would simply wear it across my body. I suppose it might be different for those who carry a handbag with short straps - can't cope with these myself.

[Tracii G]

I do put my purse in the child seat area but I tie the straps to the seat area like you would tie up a horse on a hitching post.
A thief has to take the whole cart with if he wants my purse.

[GracieRose]

I keep my purse slung over my shoulder.
I fear that if I put it in the child seat, I could easily be distracted and wander while selecting items from the shelves.
A friend had her wallet stolen from her purse at a restaurant while it was sitting on her seat next to her. Ever since she told me about that experience (and the hassle afterwards), I keep my purse on my person at all times.
If I ever do decide to leave it on the cart, I'll have to remember the recommendations here to attach it to the cart.

[Ceera]

My purse remains on me, with the cross body strap used as intended. That is how every lady in my family carried her purse, to keep it safer from purse snatchers. No way I would leave it in a grocery cart that I am stepping away from frequently, as I get items to put into my cart!

[Helen_Highwater]

One issue is tote style bags have become very fashionable and tend not to have a shoulder strap just carry handles often too short to fit over a shoulder.

Having your bag slung over your shoulder is no guarantee either. I know GG's who've had their purse (coin purse) taken out of their handbag while carrying it. Pickpockets tend to be good at what they do.

[GretchenM]

I have a Swiss Gear shoulder bag that I carry irrespective of my mode. In male mode I sometimes get the look, but most people just accept it. Here in Denver, men carrying bags and even more unisex purses are becoming more and more commonplace. I also have a women's wallet. If on the rare occasion someone asks about it I tell them that I decided that women have the best idea with respect to bags/purses and wallets. If they ask what I carry in it I tell them the same as women- "What I need." If they pursue it further then I tell them it makes my feminine side happy and then give them a wink. They usually laugh and go on. It is a subtle but matter of fact way of telling them I'm trans. Never had a problem and it really loosens up the conversation. My wife's brother-in-law keeps showing me how easy it is to not carry much in your pockets, which has always been my complaint about not having a bag - my pockets get so full of stuff gravity tends to pull my pants down. So, when he brings up the subject I tell him but how would I carry the notepad and pens or the compact tools I have or the hand lenses and 8X30 monocular for birds or whatnot which converts to a 22 power measuring microscope? (I am a botanist and I need those magnifiers to identify things.) As I said, it is my purse and I carry what I need - just like women do. But I do have a nicer bag when in fem mode - still has a hand lens in it though.

[DMichele]

Helen,
I put my handbag on my shoulder as I leave the car and keep it there while I shop. When I checkout, I hang the handbag on the shopping cart's handle while I transfer the groceries to the counter. I take out my wallet, laying it on the counter, and then proceed to bag the groceries (use to be a grocery store stock clerk, cashier decades ago).

Yesterday as I was leaving the checkout counter, wallet in hand and the handbag still hanging on the cart (so I thought), I discovered the handbag missing after a few steps. It fell off and as I turned around a women had picked it up handed it to me. In hindsight, the event was quite normal, as it could have happened to any female (or TG). I realize I was lucky to have a good Samaritan nearby though.

[Beverley Sims]

My purse stays over my shoulder and the little hook on the trolley is for the roast chicken. :-)

[Teresa]

Helen,
I usually keep mine over my shoulder, I don't need to wear glasses all the time only to read the small print so it's handier to keep them in by bag. I usually hang my home shopping bags on the hook to keep them out of the way of the shopping items .

I have to admit clothes shopping can get complicated , it's a cold day so maybe you have a coat and scarf on , you enter the shop only to find it's like a furnace , so you end with with the store basket on one arm, your coat and scarf over the other and somewhere trapped in the middle is your handbag which then decides it doesn't want to stay put on your shoulder . OK then the inevitable happens and someone calls you on your mobile phone , it's usually burried itself in the depths of the handbag , the store doesn't have any seating area so you end up in a disorganised heap hopefully in a quiet spot to take the call .

[Vickie_CDTV]

I never noticed any hooks on a shopping cart. Where are they located? I have seen women with little hooks they put on a table to hang their purse, but not on a shopping cart.

[Helen_Highwater]

Vickie,

Perhaps it's a UK thing. They're usually found at the middle rear of the cart in front of the handle bar. It means the handbag hangs between you and the back wall of the trolley.

[Stephanie Julianna]

I keep my purse in the child seat area of the cart like my wife does. You just have to be mindful of it and not leave your cart half way down the aisle when you are looking for something.

[Asew]

I don't carry a purse but my wife used to use the child seat area. Now after having kids she put it in the large basket under the child seat area. Even though we don't have children that sit there she still does that since she thinks it is a little bit safer there.

[Stephanie47]

My wife is very creative and has made her own handbag. It's made from an old jeans skirt. She gets many compliments. She NEVER takes it off her shoulder. I see way too many women leave an open handbag in the child seat of a shopping cart. Some women walk way too far away from their carts. There are constant news reports on the television of women who have had their wallets stolen out of their handbags. Why on the news? There are way too many cameras recording everything that goes on in a store, which usually ends up with the thief's picture shown on the local news casts.