North County Times/The Californian - Agnes Diggs' My Two Cents' Worth and Conversations columns

It's the busy, distracted time of year, after all. And just as we are shopping for a good deal, so are the folks who see us as prey.

With darkness catching many of us outside at an earlier hour each day, we especially need to proceed with caution at all times, not fearfully, but with a sense of who is in our space and what is going on around us.

I'm talking about parking lots and parking structures. I'm talking about stores and office buildings. Any place where the lights are dim. And some places where the lights are bright.

Make sure, for instance, that while you're loading your purchases into the car, someone else isn't unloading your wallet from your pocket or purse.

Back in the old days, theft victims had somewhat less to lose. These days it's not your money or your life, it's your money and your life. Not necessarily your actual life, although that could happen. More like the life you've built for yourself ---- your identity.

It's amazing how far a person is willing to go for ill-gotten gain.

Case in point: my friend worked hard to earn her master's degree at MIT. She promised herself that, if she did well, she would somehow buy her dream car: a red Porsche 914 with a Targa top. And she did.

One Saturday, she came to pick me up for a ride and a shop-a-thon. The car, which was shaped like a box on wheels, bore a vanity plate and gleamed in the sunshine. I folded myself into the passenger seat, and we were cruising.

A few minutes into the drive, we stopped at a traffic light in front of a police station. Her purse was wedged behind her seat. Mine was on the floor between my knees.

Suddenly this fool leaned into the open roof of the car and grabbed my purse. In front of a police station, no less.

Don't ask me why, because I'm sure I don't know ---- I grabbed the front of his shirt and held on.

She powered through the gears and took off, with him flailing in the opening like a hooked trout. I was afraid to let go lest he fall and be killed by the oncoming traffic. I was angry, but not that angry.

She didn't drive far. Just enough to have him hollering for his mama.

As far as I could see, the only injury he sustained was the one to his pride. And possibly one to his knee when he tripped in his attempt to flee from us.

As I said, it's amazing how far a person is willing to go for ill-gotten gain.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I wouldn't be much of a friend if I didn't remind you.

'Tis the season to be shopping. But somebody out there might be browsing for your worldly goods.

To coin a phrase, let the shopper beware.

Contact staff writer Agnes Diggs at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 3511, or adiggs@californian.com.