I say my wife is paranoid enough to not leave her purse with me.

I too must agree with Wren (oh I hate when that happens :P j/k). Being that it is his wife'* purse, and therefore really should be joint property, then by association it is his and he should take better care to watch it.

But there'* another thing here, not saying your friend is a bad person in anyways, just maybe a little careless. But say that his wife just carried around umm...lipstick in her purse along with some gum and other easily replacable items. Nothing financially damaging would get lost if the the purse "sprouted legs and ran off". But the point isn't that, the point is that it is something of his wifes, so therefore he should respect it, and therefore her, and take care of it. Asking wasn't necessary, it should be implied.

My wife knows better as well.

Bill W laid out the logical answer, it is the family'* money and he is responsible for the safety of the purse. It was placed in his care.

Also after 13 years he should know better.

Okay, here it comes straight from the 18 yr old guy who never had a girlfriend.

I think it'* not John responsbility, Why? John is not the one that'* carrying the purse around so therefore it'* the woman'* property, yes I realize sometimes, there'* joint accounts, etc in the purse but I prefer to leave anything really really valuable like that at home unless I know I'm going to need that account or etc on me that day then I would take it with me. It'* like a person just got 1000 in cash and he puts in his wallet. Is he going to carry it around all day, no, he would remove the bulk and keep few bucks. That would help reduce the potential for identity theft, large losses if the purse get stolen. The most the purse-taker would get is some change, makeup, tampons, and coupla bucks.

Then what if I put my wallet on the cart and my wife took the cart without telling me? I wouldn't do it to begin with.

Therefore, it is not John'* responsibiltiy unless he was asked to.

Fuel..how about if we mention in the cart that he was pushing, the purse was 3 inches from his hands?

John is wrong. Simple answer is; "It'* his wife'* purse."

I KNOW he didn't mean it and probably didn't give it a second thought at the time. I know, 'cause I've been there, sorta.

This explains why you probably won't get married any time soon!

I would not leave my purse in the cart regardless of what my spouse was doing. I know that men (in general) are easily distracted by shiny objects and therefore cannot be trusted to watch over a womans purse (I carry all my goodies in my purse). I won't even allow a husband/boyfriend to go into my purse just as I wouldn't go into his wallet. BUT- if I was pushing the cart and my other half had left his wallet (for the sake of argument) I would guard it with my life. I look out for my mate'* stuff. After this guy has been married for so long you would think he would have known better than to leave the cart unattended. What if it was a child. Would he wander off without the kid? I don't care if I leave a jacket in the cart I expect my man to keep an eye on it and protect it. Isn't that what a man'* main job- to protect his family?

It'* not about me, it'* about Jeff. :P

What does Jeff have to do about this. We are talking about John and his wife.