Some years back I worked in the office of a company that repaired large trucks. On Christmas Eve Day we were going to have a company potluck. With last-minute Christmas preparations and working and all, I ended up going to the grocery store late at night to get items to make something for the potluck.

After acquiring the items needed and returning to my car, I opened the trunk and proceeded to place the bag of groceries inside. My purse was perched right in front of me in the upper section of the cart, where it was safe—or so I thought. Suddenly a car pulled up alongside me, and a passenger grabbed the handle of my purse hanging over the side while the driver floored it. I screamed, but no one seemed to be around to hear. It was dark, and the car sped away too quickly for me to read the license plate.

Now I am much more cautious. My purse goes into the front seat with doors locked while I load the groceries in the car. It’s always good to be aware of what people are around, although you can’t anticipate a car with a driver with bad intentions suddenly showing up. A couple of times I have asked to have someone working in the store accompany me to my car when the parking lot was dark and deserted, and they seemed happy to oblige.

Those of us who carry purses must also be attentive while shopping. I will pass on a idea I came up with to help keep my purse safe. If you’re carrying a purse and you don’t have a little one occupying the upper part of the cart, here’s what you can do. Unbuckle the child safety strap, slip it through the handle of your purse, and buckle it up. You still need to be attentive, but it would make it a little more difficult for someone to swipe your purse.

A few years ago I waited at one of the luggage carousels at the airport, after returning from a trip to visit family members. My black bag looked like so many others, so I had tied a little curling ribbon to the handle to distinguish it. I waited on the side of the carousel furthest from where the bags came out. I kept my eyes on all the bags as they appeared, hoping for a glimpse of my own bag.

Eventually I spotted my bag at the beginning of the carousel, but—to my horror—a man took my bag and began walking away with it. Several times I shouted, “That’s my bag!” Finally someone realized what was going on and on whom my my gaze was focused, and he stopped the man. The man brought my bag back and apologized, saying it was an accident. I was not convinced it was an accident, since I had that ribbon tied to the handle.

This incident prompts me to give two words of caution. One is that you should never stand on the farthest end of the luggage carousel. Stand close to where the bags are coming out, so that no one can beat you to your bag. Secondly, do make your bag distinguishable from other bags.

Although I have previously tied a little ribbon to the handle of my bag to avoid confusion, a recent article made me aware that this might not be such good advice after all. Ribbons can interfere with scanning the tags that have identifying bar codes. Luggage handlers may set aside bags with ribbons, to scan them manually later. Your bag may miss the flight.

There are other ways you could make your bag stand out from others, besides tying on ribbons. I found some other ideas on the internet, such as colorful tags, a luggage belt, stickers, colored tape, painted artwork (on hardshell luggage), fabric sewn onto fabric luggage, or simply buying colorful or uniquely weird luggage, These options are shown in an article called “10 Clever ways to make your luggage stand out in a crowd” on the sheknows.com website.

Shortly after my husband picked me up at the airport following the attempted luggage heist, we stopped to get a bite at a fast food restaurant. While my husband stood at the pop machine and filled his cup, he felt someone fooling with the wallet in his back pocket. He turned around and tripped the guy. They both landed on the floor. The man quickly got up, ran out the door and across the street, and disappeared. The moral of the story is that men should carry their wallets in a front pocket instead of a back pocket if they want a better chance to avoid having their wallets stolen.