Everybody here, and anyone who's been a parent, knows that things can happen in a millisecond - EVEN if the child is attached to your hip. You can't look at them every single second you're in public.
In unguarded moments, I might mention that horrible feeling of panic that sets in when your small child has gotten out of sight. Such a confession ALWAYS draws a "me, too, isn't it awful?" response. You are the first person I have EVER spoken to about this that apparently hasn't experienced this.
Times must be different. Funny thing is, when I was growing up (you seem to be about the age of my parents), my parents were MUCH less protective of my brothers and me than I am with my own children. No seat belts, M-80's, we could wander the yards of the neighborhood at will, waiting in the car while Mom shopped.
And this was the 70's, not the 50's. The funny thing is, i don't know who was the irregular one, you or my mom. Either way, no big deal. To each his own!
Honey! Where do you shop?! It's not near the toothpaste.
Again, in my post 70: I'm assuming that most parents are smart enough to control their kids. When mine got too big for the carts, they were either in the basket or holding the pocket of my jeans. The MINUTE they let go I knew it and they were back by my side where they belonged. As they got older, when Hubby was along, he'd say, "where do your hands belong?". My boys put their hands in their pockets and stayed beside us.
What I did worked.