Who goes out with $3k cash? Even if you are so wealthy that the quantity is like $20 for normal people, that's enough to make you a target if someone discovers you have it.
I bet you didn't casually leave it in your unattended bag. I paid $5k cash for a car once and planned that payment out carefully to minimize the time I had the money in hand.
I once did some consulting for the IAEA in Vienna. They paid you in CASH at that time. As an American I felt really really uncomfortable walking around Vienna with 3-4k in my pocket. Austrians thought nothing of doing so.