I have been out and about as a female for a few years now..... to various stores, the local galleria mall, laundromat, etc ..... including to a major grocery supermarket .
All these places are on the other side of town from me and I feel at ease..
I never had a problem or issue... until recently at the grocery supermarket. Let me preface this by saying a few things .....
1) I always leave my male wallet and main keys in my car.
2) In my female purse I only carry some limited cash in my female wallet, a small change purse ..... and of course my car key.... along with some usual female things
3) I also always carry a spare car key in one of these small bra purses or in whatever.....like in a skirt pocket etc..... just in case. I could loose etc my purse but, still have a car key
Now.. for my recent problem..
It happened at the grocery supermarket
I always put my female purses in the shopping cart right after the handle where if you had a very small child they could sit there. You could pull the flap up and place you purse etc there This is what most females do there.
I don't know how I did it but I left the purse in the shopping cart after taking my car key out of it and loading the groceries in my car. I did not realizes it until I started to leave.
I had returned the shopping cart right by my car where only couple of other returned carts were. This was just off the parking lot and was evidently a designated place to return them .
I was so relieved and grateful when I returned that my purse was still in the shopping cart .
You can bet that I will never do that again. :)
So the moral is ... prepare for such things and always be mindful of what you do.
Also, as someone has said in this thread, "When in Rome do as the Romans do". :).