Not to pick on Safeway, as this could have happened at any store (but this did happen at Church + Market Safeway).
I always bring my canvas shopping bags to the grocery store and had them folded up and set in the children’s seat in my shopping cart. Realizing that I had gone by something I needed in the freezer isle, I briefly left my cart behind and turned the corner to grab an item. When I returned to my shopping cart less than 30 seconds later, there was a young man pushing my cart away.
Thinking he had just mistaken my cart for his, I walked up behind him and noticed that he was rifling through my canvas bags. Without thinking I blurted out, “That’s my cart and those are my bags”. He quickly turned around to face off with me and took a threatening step toward me. I got into a fighting stance and squared off with him. He backed down and took a few steps backward, yelling “I haven’t even taken anything yet!” Yet being the operative word. He quickly scurried away like the little thieving rat he was.
Lesson: Do not leave anything of value in your cart, ever. Even with you in attendance of your cart, you are still turning to take stuff off the shelves or out of a freezer case. It literally takes less than 2 seconds for someone to lift your purse or bag out of your cart.
Frequently I end up grocery shopping after working out. I never leave valuables in my gym bag (my keys, wallet, & phone are always on me). There’s a carabiner clip attached to my bag, and I clip it to the shopping cart (because hey, my dirty gym clothes are mine!).
In retrospect, I didn’t handle the thief in the smartest way. Given that he was rifling through empty canvas shopping bags – I should have said nothing and immediately contacted store security instead of facing off with him. The thing is that I wasn’t afraid to fight him, but would that have really been the smartest thing to do over empty bags? I was angry, and that turned off the thinking process that plans, and thinks about consequences, etc. Not Good!
I did notify a Safeway employee who was close by and Security on my way out about what had happened. What happened after that is another story…suffice it to say they are ill prepared to deal with these types of situations, so never leave your valuables in the cart.