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SFist interviewee twice over Julia Wertz is in a pickle: apparently, some guy asked her to watch his laptop for 5 minutes and has been gone more than an hour. Julia's wrapping up her work, but the dude is nowhere to be seen.
We'd like to report that this has happened to us, but we've come to accept that we don't have the kind of face that inspires confidence. And we never leave our shit sitting there with a stranger, because, duh, stranger.
What about you -- do you Ritual-based Bedouins rely on the kindness of strangers? What would you do if someone left their stuff and didn't come back? (The pawn shop springs to mind, yet another reason folks are probably wise not to place that burden on us in the first place.)
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Pack it up and hand it to the barista
You give it to the cafe staff and ask the manager to have a word with the chap about manners and sensible requests to other cafe patrons.
Mr. "I'll Be Back In Five Minutes" is probably just another one of those self-absorbed hipster Web 2.0 morons.
I'd have said, I'll be here for the next ten minutes. Then, after I was done with whatever it was I was doing, I'd simply leave. If he cared that much about his laptop, he wouldn't have a.) left it under the eye of a random stranger, and b.) not stayed gone for an hour.
On second thought, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't pack up the guy's stuff.
I would call over a staffer (or preferably a manager), summarize the situation, and let them deal with it. After all, it's their establishment and their liability. They can proceed however they as they wish.
As a two-time laptop theft victim, I would give anything to find myself in this situation.
Is it wrong of me to despise people who aren't even one-time laptop theft victims?
free laptop
This just happened to me yesterday! I was in the food court in Westfield and some dude asks my friend and I to watch his laptop while he picked up his order. Luckily he was also within eye site of us & he was only gone a minute. But I'm unsure if I would trust a stranger to watch my personal belongings!
I, much like BC, would have set a boundary with the guy. I'd be there for 10-15 minutes more and don't inconvenience me further by being late.
Honestly though, the first thing that went through my mind: was this guy good looking? Because I'd be willing to be a little inconvenienced for longer that 15 minutes, maybe, if he's handsome. Further on that theme, if I was still there and it was approaching an hour, I'd take handsome man's laptop and leave a note telling him to contact me through Craigslist to get it back.
If he was ugly however, and ten minutes had passed, I'd have left without worrying about his property. And while that may make me a dickbag, it's the truth.
I've asked people to watch my stuff. Its called community. Not that radical a notion. If I was left sitting there I'd do what I did the other day when I found someone's wallet left behind at the Lone Palm. give it the staff, move on with my life.
Kudos to mpantone, for the combination of web 2.0 and hipster. Nice hate sandwich of disparate items.
like all those hippie marina chicks!
You are being set-up! There is child porn on the laptop and possession is 8/10ths the law or something like that.
RUN!
I wouldn't steal it, karma is a bitch...however, I wouldn't make any special effort to stay longer than I wanted to and if he took that long and I wanted to leave, I'd just pack it up (assuming it would take only a minute or two) and give it to the staff with a description of the guy.
I dunno, maybe I was just raised differently, but there doesn't seem to be much debate here. Turn it into the staff and go on your merry little way. How hard is it to figure that out?
i figured it was some kind of elaborate pick-up routine
like she's supposed to try and see if his contact is info on there... only to find there's some sensitive poetry, fake appointment calendar with heavy-sounding investment banker type of stuff, maybe a few 1600x1200s of his what's lurking in his trousers for her to check out
And to think -- just 2 years ago at Ritual Roasters, a guy was stabbed in the chest by someone who ran in, tried to steal the laptop he was working on, guy resited, so they stabbed him and took the laptop.
what is up with people? did they just fall off the turnip truck (as my grandpa used to say)? you should be vigilant of your stuff, or at least anything you would prefer to keep. i've had a bag stolen in a san francisco cafe (years ago, maybe '97) off the back of the seat i was sitting in, while i was sitting in it.
i had two girls the other day ask me to watch their bags at their outside table on a street downtown, while they went into a restaurant to get food. before i had a chance to think about it, i said yes and they were gone. i was like, what?? it took them about 15 minutes to get their food and come back outside, and by then i was finished with my own meal and had wanted to leave. i gave them a good talking to, asking them if they'd just moved to the big city from a small town where complete strangers watch stuff for each other (they said no, funny that). in the big city, people steal stuff, sad, but true.