Be polite, but have a plan

Good advice, which extends beyond personal self-defense to financial self-defense.  The Six's wife lost her wallet, with all the expected credit cards and everything.  The Six offers up some good advice:

Many of us carry our lives in our wallets or purses. ID, credit cards, cash and all the things society requires us to have to maneuver through the various roadblocks. Those things tend to represent the sum total of our identification lives. The loss of such is more than just the hassle we must endure to replace them, it's the opportunity for the immoral to steal, sometimes more than just material things.

With identification, credit cards and a Social Security card the clever thief can steal your very identity with all the attendant problems that you'll endure. What can you do to protect yourself? The keys are speed, diligence and reporting.

RTWT, which is very much worth your while.