I know you were...so was I. Cheeesecakeeeee. I just had a home made salmon/mozza/tom/basil pizza. Cheesecake sounds very good right now, albeit I am in a state of afternoon slump. No baking.

We call them wallets. Or do you mean handbags? In which case that's changed as well - I pretty much always have one with my keys, wallet, phone, cigs, Swiss army knife etc. Some men object to calling them handbags, but "manbag" is just such a naff term I prefer the original.

I am not even sure they always target specific groups. It's also the behaviour and body language they can, falsely or not, read in some people. It happened to me to get suspicious looks from shop assistants because I was running after my daughter. In retrospect, if I saw someone as agitated as I was, I too could have been very alert. I am caucasian btw.
It happens.

Hehe, as long as you don't call it a purse.....

Slammer always uses a waiters wallet and woe betide the person asking if I carry a purse. Some time ago at the hight of my medieval phase I was prone to use a medieval type leather "purse" so yes I do use a purse from time to time.

Sounds like a fagbag

Fanny pack, aka une banane. Lol.

So in here.

I loved calling it a purse (although it isn't one, I know). A man who owns up to owning a man purse...is a hero.

I don't care whether they are uncool or not. They are absolutely great when you don't want to think about bags yet need to take along more than fits into the jeans-pocket.

Okay, this might be taking it a bit far:



click on the picture, if you can stomach it.

Wow, they could diversify and make a whole range of "I'm pregnant" bags for women.

that would definitely be prettier.

This is awesome.

I have la banane, it's gold and looks snazzy on my shoulder, high up across my chest. Makes me feel like a 10yr old, on a fieldtrip, ready for a scavenger hunt!

We should send an EF specimen with the beergut man purse to Conforama, test if it gets asked for an inspection.

Wish I could do that.

Well why cant they have these gates that make an alarm when one walks through with unscanned goods?

This is a complete misinterpretation of the stated law. It clearly states that a private individual can only act if there is no doubt of the immediate guilt of the person concerned, i.e. by 'catching them in the act'. Even the police have limited powers to act purely on suspicion.
Anyone interfering with a person's private property (e.g. the contents of their bag) or preventing them from going about their business risks being prosecuted for assault and/or false imprisonment (neither of which require physical contact to occur).
Self-checkouts are a separate case as they have clearly stated conditions to their usage.

Sorry: was responding to this, earlier post but the quote thing didn't work:
Everyone in Switzerland has the right to detain anyone as long as he has a strong believe that the person detained is doing something illegal/criminal.

Of course, this temporary detention has to be coupled with an immediate call to police, so they'll take over.

http://www.gesetze.ch/sr/312.0/312.0_052.htm

Durch Privatpersonen

Art. 218
1 Kann polizeiliche Hilfe nicht rechtzeitig erlangt werden, so sind Private berechtigt, eine Person vorläufig festzunehmen, wenn:
a. sie diese bei einem Verbrechen oder Vergehen auf frischer Tat ertappt oder unmittelbar nach der Begehung einer solchen Tat angetroffen haben; oder
b. die Öffentlichkeit zur Mithilfe bei deren Fahndung aufgefordert worden ist.
2 Bei der Festnahme dürfen Privatpersonen nur nach Massgabe von Artikel 200 Gewalt anwenden.
3 Festgenommene Personen sind so rasch als möglich der Polizei zu übergeben.

And according to article 200, which is also valid for regular people, and not just for police, you're even allowed to use force if deemed necessary:

Gewaltanwendung
Art. 200
Zur Durchsetzung von Zwangsmassnahmen darf als äusserstes Mittel Gewalt angewendet werden; diese muss verhältnismässig sein.

So, better to just open that bag and show you've nothing to hide.

Nope, only if there is absolute certainty as in they have seen me put something in the bag.

Wow that's soo racist. Better call the racism cops to they can get the offenders arrested.

My grandad did the opposite. He would put on his doiddery air and insist on shwoing the store detective every item in his bag and explaining every tiniest detail. When the store detective cut him short he got into a huff about him asking questions and then not being interested in the answer. Finally the store detective had to summon another store detective and the manager and it took the three of them to make him leave.

This was in the 1980s mind you.

He did the same at customs and used the trick to smuggle quite a bit of alcohol.

Beware the people that willingly and enthusiastically give you TOO much information unprompted. They are the ones to watch...

I think you even have to "consent" to the possibility of having your bags checked when using self check out