I honestly thought while reading it that you were covering it to thwart thieves. In other words, I thought you were hiding it. (Btw…do proofread…I’m not trying to be a dick, but it was really hard to read with the typos…oh, oh…the typo gods will nail me, but it’s still worth mentioning .)
Still, I’m sure she had a moment of panic…I doubt she knew it was under her coat. But she might have thought you hid it just to put it out of sight. She might not know you were trying to teach her a lesson.
It sounds to me like you had good intentions. I don’t believe you “got off” on her feeling panicked. I think you really meant to teach her a lesson.
Personally, I would never do that. I’m not saying what you did was wrong.
Would I want someone to do that to me? Hmmm…I might think the person was being an asshole. I think the direct approach is the best way. Of course, she was gone, and you can’t be expected to write a note.
Oh, well. I think someone could argue that doing nothing was the wrong thing to do, too.
And Harmonious Discord has a point…technically, you were the last person to touch the laptop, so you would share some responsibility. Still, I think it’s her responsibility…we’re all responsible for our own shit.
Good for you for asking, though. I’m disappointed at the flames you got. I can understand posters disagreeing with you, but flaming you is not necessary.
If I was in your position:
I don’t touch other people’s (even my own close friend’s and family’s)potentially sensitive electronic or expensive stuff without permission. For example, I have a friend who has a laptop that you have to take special care when you close it. I am definitely not going to touch some stranger’s electronic or expensive stuff to “teach her a lesson.” In my opinion, it is risky and rude.
Though it is really not my business, I don’t think that it is wrong to give the girl a gentle one sentence verbal warning. Maybe she truly does not know. No harm in being nice.
If I was in her position:
In most circumstances, I would be pissed if someone moved my laptop. I would be doubly pissed if someone moved it to teach me a lesson. If I caught you closing my laptop, I would think that you were trying to steal it and take appropriate (or innapropriate) action. If I didn’t catch you, would you hang around to explain to me that you were hiding it for my own good? What do you think would be my response? I think that I would be inclined to “teach you a lesson” not to touch other people’s stuff. On the other hand, if you were to just walk by and give me a polite warning, I would probably smile, say “thanks!” and as an adult take your warning under consideration.
I must side with the Don’t fuck with others’ private property, even in public to teach them a lesson.. A far more effective lesson is to leave it be; then a thief steals it, then she suffers through it and never, ever, ever makes that mistake again. Plus, she’ll learn about the need to independently back one’s data up, and to not stoire personal data in an insecure form on the computer.
If you want to nosy about it, have a direct conversation with her about the abject stupidity of leaving the thing in the open, unattended…
It’s hard to say right or wrong. Feels wrong but w/ right intentions.
I’d like to know if it did any good. Have you been back to see if the girl learned a lesson and if so did you or will you speak to her about it?
I can see it now… “Hey, hi there, I was the one that hid your laptop the other day. I did it to teach you a lesson”… oh yeah? SLAP! :smack:
That’s funny, where I come from it would have been considered a “duty”. It’s something that may be useful to her.
A few times in trains and planes I’ve had access to confidential data from my competition. Once I actually turned to the guy sitting besides me writing a sales report and mentioned that I worked for his company’s main competitor and while I appreciated the view of all his colored cheesepies, could he stop muttering about them?
They’re so used to “the 24 hour office” they don’t realize it’s full of strangers.
Just go get the store, cafe, library, office manager, parent, whoever and tell them that there is an unattended laptop over there and they might want to ‘protect’ it.
*:: Then stand there and giggle at the girl as she has to get the laptop back from them all the while talking in a loud whisper about what a dumbass that person was to all the other people around. If that upsets her and she says something to you, just spit on her shoe. ::: *
I was in a public bathroom in a stall, and a woman came in with a toddler and got in the stall next to mine. She set her purse down on the floor within easy reach for me. If I was a thief, I could have grabbed it, and gotten out of the mall bathroom in a flash.
I waited for her to come out, and warned her that I could have stolen it. She wasn’t very appreciative! She seemed to think it was fine where it was, and that I wouldn’t have been able to do that, that she would have grabbed it before I ran off with it. So my warning didn’t do much good. (Or maybe it did, after she thought about it some. Who knows?)
I’m of the mind that it’s not my place to teach anyone a lesson, nor to mess with other people’s things. No matter how good your intentions, there’s too much distrust and suspicion in the world.
If you’re stupid or uncaring enough to leave your expensive personal belongings around, it’s your own damn fault when they’re stolen.
Hey, I admit I’ve done what the OP describes before (leaving my laptop, not “helping” with it). If someone had pulled that stunt with me, they wouldn’t think it was very funny after I got through with them. All I wanted was to grab some breadsticks downstairs, so I just closed it, maybe put my backpack over it, and went downstairs because I could see it from there. Usually I’d ask someone sitting nearby if they would watch it for me. Could they have taken it? Sure. But I picked someone with their own laptop (walking out with two would draw attention). Most people are more interested in what they are doing. Plus, if they tried to take it, I could see them, and they have to come downstairs to leave.
I weighed risks and decided that the hassle for me to shut it down, unplug it, and carry it in my already heavy bag downstairs for 15 seconds wasn’t worth it. That’s my choice, and if you don’t like it then you need to MYOFB.
While it’s cool that you may want to help take care of your fellow man (we’re in a SOCIETY!), most “fellow man” don’t want you to. They want you to MYOFB. So while it’s a good karma generating gesture, just leave people to their own devices in cases like this. It’s their purse - it’s their laptop - they’re big people. Let them be.
And don’t anyone be a smart ass and say “well what if the buildling was on fire - should I just MYOB and not tell anyone” - you know EXACTLY what I’m talking about.
I think there’s a happy median here. What I would have done is waited for her to come skipping back, walked over to her and said, “I’ve been watching your laptop for you when you leave, but I’m getting ready to go to class now. Just wanted to let you know.”
This avoids the mean hiding thing that the OP does, and sidesteps the superior tone that (whether delivered or not) might be heard by Miss Laptop if you’d merely informed her, “hey, you better keep a better eye on your stuff or it’s going to be stolen!”
I’ve taken the time to read EVERY post and I think, for the future, I shall speak with anyperson instead of moving their stuff.
This girl was dumb though, I guess I forgot to mention that not only did she leave her laptop there, she left her bookbag, cell phone (it was a nice razor one too) and her purse on the table, OPEN!
But, I guess I didn’t think that I could have damaged the laptop or caused her to do so in the process. It was still pluged into the wall socket, so I don’t think it would have taken more than a glance to realize its still pluged in, but still, it could have caused a problem.
I’m a bit astonished that some people advise not to care about your fellow humans. The question isn’t about teaching somebody a lesson because you are arrogant; it means helping a fellow human being. (And her leaving stuff unguarded doesn’t automatically mean she’s stupid - she could simply come from a small, secure community where theft wasn’t a problem, or misjudge the risks.) Being your brother’s keeper doesn’t mean being a nanny.
There’s another side besides her loss of her work (which is beyond the question of the cost of the laptop): My fiance tells me when he was drafted in the airforce, anybody who left his purse or other valuables lying around unguarded would be punished for “incitment to theft from comrades” (Hope I translated that right). It’s not ethical to lead others into temptation by leaving expensive lying around.
I also agree that the best course to take would have been to contact campus security, or the coffe/library manager, so they can offically hold the laptop, and then advise the girl offically. If you talk to her directly, and she brushes you off because she really is dumb, you will be angry, and less inclined to help somebody else. If security chews her out, she’s less likely to backtalk.
I’m with Jim here. I wouldn’t have done it, and I would have thought twice about even giving a verbal warning; I don’t think it’s my place to be telling adults to be responsible for their own stuff. Kids; sure. I’d tell a child any day to be more careful.
From the other side of the fence, though, I would probably appreciate a warning from someone if I was being gratuitiously stupid, but having a prank like this played on me would make me see red. I suppose I don’t really have a very clear perspective on the rights and wrongs of this issue. I do tend not to butt into what I see as not my business, so that comes out on top.
On preview, reading all the posts under me, I see I couldn’t have put it better than this:
My get feeling of not doing the same thing isn’t related to not wanting to help someone; I think it’s the implied insult in hiding it that I balk at. **Ellen Cherry’s **approach acheives the desired result (helping someone) without the hidden “Oh my god, you’re such a moron” implication which I would get if someone played a prank like this on me. I certainly would appreciate a friendly warning, but I would not appreciate having it hidden.
I was trying to answer the question of whether to say anything at all seperately from how to say - because I’d answer “Yes” to say something, but “No” to the hiding, for the reasons already given, and liked the alternative of going to security/official person best. (Now to remember for next time…)
.)