# Purses in a shopping cart: a poll **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 14, 2007, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purses-in-a-shopping-cart-a-poll/400129 "2007-04-14T18:05:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![tashabot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tashabot/32/6250_2.png) [@tashabot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tashabot)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2007, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purses-in-a-shopping-cart-a-poll/400129/21 "2007-04-15T00:03:31Z")
I use a big messenger-style bag as a purse, because I have so much crap I have to haul around. I always put it in the seat, and I don’t care if there’s diaper germs there. I always keep the cart with me so the bag isn’t stolen. If I let myself think about all of the germs that could possibly be infesting every area, I’d never leave my damned house. So I refuse to do so, and I wash myself - the only thing I can control the cleanliness of - every day. ~Tasha ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2007, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purses-in-a-shopping-cart-a-poll/400129/22 "2007-04-15T00:25:49Z")
I cannot fathom the kind of life where I would be worried about germs all the time. As long as I don’t see a smear of poop, I figure I’m good. And my purse stays on my shoulder. I have been known to stand by unattended carts with purses sitting open in the seat and announce loudly, “If you don’t come back and secure your purse I am going to steal your wallet”. Am I the only one to do this? I consider it a public service. And if I don’t loudly make an announcement, I stand by the cart and when the owner returns I let them know that while I didn’t mind wasting my time guarding their purse from the others in the store, I could have just as easily walked off with it. Most women say, “Thank you, I can’t believe I did that!” ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2007, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purses-in-a-shopping-cart-a-poll/400129/23 "2007-04-15T00:29:28Z")
Never occured to me to worry about the germs there, I’d be more concerned about it getting stolen if I left it there (if it gets set on the seat, my hand is through the loops and it gets picked up if I move away even two steps). Never seen kids wearing just diapers in those things either and when my son was younger I was more concerned he might put his mouth on the handle. Somehow I think the handle is worse than the seat… ---
**Author:** ![Adoptamom\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Adoptamom\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Adoptamom_II)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2007, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purses-in-a-shopping-cart-a-poll/400129/24 "2007-04-15T01:30:51Z")
I don’t much care about the cooties. I see 170 kids (plus their siblings) that come through our therapy center every week. What’s a few more germs? My purse is usually in the seat section with the strap flopped over the bar so that when I hold the push bar my purse is secure. I think I saw a man on television snatch a woman’s purse out of the seat and run out the store exit with it, which is why I started securing mine that way. Losing my purse would be a major PITA. ---
**Author:** ![Caridwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c89c15/32.png) [@Caridwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caridwen)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2007, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purses-in-a-shopping-cart-a-poll/400129/25 "2007-04-15T01:45:10Z")
[QUOTE=EJsGirl] Any idea how long those “baby diaper butt germs” live on a cart seat, out in the open? I’m guessing not too long… With all the legitimate things I have to worry about in the course of my day, this doesn’t even make the list. [/QUOTE] If a diaper isn’t changed they can leak. Because plasic diapers don’t get a lot of oxygen and it can get extremely warm inside the amount of bacteria increases dramatically. Under the right conditions bacteria in fecal matter can last for weeks. I’m not saying you have to worry about, but carts aren’t the cleanest things in the world. I wouldn’t put luncheon meat there. ---
**Author:** ![Caridwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c89c15/32.png) [@Caridwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caridwen)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2007, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purses-in-a-shopping-cart-a-poll/400129/26 "2007-04-15T02:53:32Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] I know this is IMHO and all, but do you have a cite for this assertion? While today’s diapers allow more urinations per diaper before changing, poopy diapers need to be changed just as quickly. My daughter is put in a fresh diaper before we leave the house, and dressed on top of it in at least one layer, usually two (snap crotch t-shirt and jeans) and then put in the cart. What bacteria are you worried about, and how did it get on her bottom? My hands on the handle of the cart are far dirtier than her jeans. Actually, my hands might have gotten some bacteria on the butt of her jeans lifting her out of her carseat, but I assure you they’re no more virulent than the bacteria your hands put on your purse by holding it. Now this part I agree with, and it’s why I don’t usually leave my purse in the cart. If I do, it’s at least covered with my coat and only in the more affluent stores where theft is less likely. [/QUOTE] I think we’re talking about two different things here. I’m talking about a baby with a dirty diaper that hasn’t been changed. If the baby has a dirty diaper on for a long period of time, because the diaper is plastic the bacteria in the feces multiplies at a much faster rate. It’s not good for a baby to wear a diaper that is dirty for a long period of time. Additionally if the baby is sitting on one of the plastic rides you see at a supermarket or on the plastic seat with just a diaper on feces could get on the seat. I’m not saying it’s going to kill anyone but you might want to wash your hands or your kids hands, that’s all. Is this the part you want a cite for? What part do you question? That the bacteria multiplies more rapidly? I’ll be happy to quote what is in my book tomorrow ( I didn’t find the information on the internet). I’d do it tonight, but I took my contacts out. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2007, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purses-in-a-shopping-cart-a-poll/400129/27 "2007-04-15T03:04:42Z")
[QUOTE=Caridwen] If a diaper isn’t changed they can leak. Because plasic diapers don’t get a lot of oxygen and it can get extremely warm inside the amount of bacteria increases dramatically. Under the right conditions bacteria in fecal matter can last for weeks. [/QUOTE] Perhaps, but I kind of doubt that “corraled in the parking lot all day and night” constitutes the “right conditions.” Whatever. I am not worried in the slightest. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2007, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purses-in-a-shopping-cart-a-poll/400129/28 "2007-04-15T12:24:26Z")
[QUOTE=Adoptamom\_II] I don’t much care about the cooties. I see 170 kids (plus their siblings) that come through our therapy center every week. What’s a few more germs? My purse is usually in the seat section with the strap flopped over the bar so that when I hold the push bar my purse is secure. I think I saw a man on television snatch a woman’s purse out of the seat and run out the store exit with it, which is why I started securing mine that way. Losing my purse would be a major PITA. [/QUOTE] From what you describe, your purse is secure…as long as you are facing it and holding the bar. Nobody is going to steal your purse (or slip your wallet out of it) while you are facing the purse and holding on to it. What do you think happens when you turn your back on the cart to check the calorie content of something across the aisle, and then you remember that there was cereal on sale on the endcap a few steps back, so you leave the cart there and step around the corner…just for a sec!..and then debate between the Cocoa Puffs and the Special K? ---
**Author:** ![Adoptamom\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Adoptamom\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Adoptamom_II)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2007, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purses-in-a-shopping-cart-a-poll/400129/29 "2007-04-15T12:47:36Z")
[QUOTE=kittenblue] What do you think happens when you turn your back on the cart to check the calorie content of something across the aisle, and then you remember that there was cereal on sale on the endcap a few steps back, so you leave the cart there and step around the corner…just for a sec!..and then debate between the Cocoa Puffs and the Special K? [/QUOTE] I may step away from the cart, but never my purse. Since the strap is already over my arm I just pull it up to my shoulder. Why on earth would anyone **ever** leave their purse unattended in a public place? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2007, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purses-in-a-shopping-cart-a-poll/400129/30 "2007-04-15T17:28:37Z")
[QUOTE=Adoptamom\_II] Why on earth would anyone **ever** leave their purse unattended in a public place? 😕 [/QUOTE] I do it all the time. I leave it in the grocery cart and walk off, and I set it on a chair while I hit the Chinese buffet. I leave it in the car and run in to the convenience store for a Frappucino. I leave it on my desk at work while I’m making copies in the next room. It’s because I live, shop, and work in a small town in Iowa, and I refuse to believe that anyone would take it. There has to be **some** benefit to living here! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2007, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purses-in-a-shopping-cart-a-poll/400129/31 "2007-04-15T17:39:01Z")
I’d never put my purse there, but not because it might be germy - so what? I mean, I’m a public librarian. I sneeze at germs. Rather, who on earth leaves their purse there to get stolen while you look at the green beans? It doesn’t occur to me to take my puse off unless I’m sitting down somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2007, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purses-in-a-shopping-cart-a-poll/400129/32 "2007-04-15T17:39:52Z")
[QUOTE=kittenblue] I cannot fathom the kind of life where I would be worried about germs all the time. [/QUOTE] Agreed. I thought the Oprahfied “hypersensitive about all those evil germs hurting my sweet treasured angel” trend went out in the 1990’s. We’re _supposed_ to be exposed to germs, in general. And some people die. That’s, in part, natural selection. Or wrath of God, whatever. [QUOTE=Cardiwen] Because plasic diapers don’t get a lot of oxygen and it can get extremely warm inside the amount of bacteria increases dramatically. Under the right conditions bacteria in fecal matter can last for weeks. [/QUOTE] If your child goes weeks between changings, there are larger problems at play. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Caridwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c89c15/32.png) [@Caridwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caridwen)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2007, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purses-in-a-shopping-cart-a-poll/400129/33 "2007-04-15T17:44:18Z")
[QUOTE=Una Persson] Agreed. I thought the Oprahfied “hypersensitive about all those evil germs hurting my sweet treasured angel” trend went out in the 1990’s. We’re _supposed_ to be exposed to germs, in general. And some people die. That’s, in part, natural selection. Or wrath of God, whatever. If your child goes weeks between changings, there are larger problems at play. 😉 [/QUOTE] A little soap and water solves most of these problems. It’s always a good idea to wash your hands if you handle shit. I don’t think anyone advocated getting in a plastic bubble. As far as the purse, I never heard of a bacteria problem with purses and shopping carts. If anyone is worried about it all you have to do is wipe off your purse. ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2007, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purses-in-a-shopping-cart-a-poll/400129/34 "2007-04-15T17:46:55Z")
I have a backpack purse, so it doesn’t leave my person. I do put crushables in the baby seat part of the cart. Like someone said, if I worried about germs that much, I’d never leave my house. ---
**Author:** ![RoniaBorkason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9dc877/32.png) [@RoniaBorkason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RoniaBorkason)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2007, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purses-in-a-shopping-cart-a-poll/400129/35 "2007-04-15T20:37:57Z")
I leave my purse in the seat, but recently started buckling it into it, all closed up, to keep it from wandering off. I had never thought of it before, but my mother mentioned it to me. That way, as long as I keep an eye on it, it can’t be taken from the cart without unbuckling it or breaking the strap. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2007, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purses-in-a-shopping-cart-a-poll/400129/36 "2007-04-15T21:34:35Z")
I put both food and purse in the seat and never give it a second thought with regard to germs. They just don’t freak me out. I keep my cart right with me at all times. I don’t even wander a few steps from it. I’m much more worried about kids doing a face-plant out of the cart than I am about the germs they leave behind. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2007, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purses-in-a-shopping-cart-a-poll/400129/37 "2007-04-15T22:24:20Z")
[QUOTE=Caridwen] I think we’re talking about two different things here. I’m talking about a baby with a dirty diaper that hasn’t been changed. If the baby has a dirty diaper on for a long period of time, because the diaper is plastic the bacteria in the feces multiplies at a much faster rate… Is this the part you want a cite for? What part do you question? That the bacteria multiplies more rapidly? [/QUOTE] Yes, I question that the exterior of a diaper (the part that would touch a shopping cart if Britney took her baby to Wal-Mart in nothing but a diaper and tee) has a higher bacteria count in 2007 than it did in 1957. I think I see the misunderstanding, though: the whole plastic thing. First of all, you’re not clear as to how plastic increases bacterial growth. But if we assume for the moment it does, you’re actually arguing yourself in the wrong direction: diapers aren’t plastic anymore. Cloth diaperers often USED to use plastic, in a separate piece often called “rubber pants” that went on top of the cloth diaper to help prevent leaks. Nowadays breathable diaper liners made of cloth or wood pulp/superabsorbent crystals in a breathable paper shell are used. So if your claim that plastic increases bacterial growth is true, than yesteryear’s diapers would have been worse, not better. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2007, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purses-in-a-shopping-cart-a-poll/400129/38 "2007-04-15T23:07:07Z")
What I don’t get is why women take their purses into the grocery store at all. What I do: I take my grocery list in my hand, and my membership card and a debit card in my pocket. If I’m carrying a purse, I slide it under the passenger seat and leave it there. Yes, someone could break into my car and steal it, but in truth, I’d rather have my purse stolen from my car when I’m not there versus having it take off me, with the risks of confrontation added. Though, really, I don’t think either one is very common unless you’re in a really hinky neighborhood. As for the seat, yep, I stick crushables like chips and smooshables like bananas there all the time. So far all of us have survived. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2007, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purses-in-a-shopping-cart-a-poll/400129/39 "2007-04-15T23:10:09Z")
I am just not that fucking worried about someone stealing my purse! And I have walked as much as 15 feet from my cart and purse! Maybe even 30! :eek: Seriously, these things just don’t register for me. ---
**Author:** ![MaddyStrut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dbc845/32.png) [@MaddyStrut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaddyStrut)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2007, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purses-in-a-shopping-cart-a-poll/400129/40 "2007-04-15T23:10:56Z")
I’d never even thought of it till I read this thread. Like others, my purse stays handing on my shoulder to prevent it or items in it from being stolen. Honestly, my purse has probably been in worse places than the seat of a shopping cart. I throw it on the passenger side floor of my car (who knows what’s been on my passenger’s shoes), it gets shoved under the seat or in the trunk when I don’t want to carry it with me (and I throw all kinds of stuff in the trunk), etc. I don’t usually eat off of my purse, so I figure I’m okay. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purses-in-a-shopping-cart-a-poll/400129.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purses-in-a-shopping-cart-a-poll/400129.md?page=3)