True, but I suspect there’s more to it than that. I think there are some psychological components to it as well. I’ll echo the desire to hear more from Shagnasty on this.
It never occurred to me that someone might be annoyed at being asked. I’ve never been annoyed.
And I ask myself, occasionally. Of course, I make sure I’m only gone briefly. Typical example is I’m studying somewheres and really need to pee, but packing up all my stuff just to come right back again is a pain. If I’m feeling paranoid, I’ll grab the essentials, like wallet and phone, and take them with me.
Someone got annoyed with me over this once. I got to the beach and realized I’d forgotten something. I needed to run back to my hotel room, about two blocks away, and didn’t want to have to pack up all my stuff and lug it back. The beach was pretty empty, so I asked the closest people, a couple maybe 50 feet away. They said yes, but were visibly annoyed. When I got back, they were leaving. At least my stuff was still there.
A lot of it depends, to my mind, on where this situation is happening.
I’ve asked people to watch my stuff in public, while I ran to the toilet, or to quickly run an errand. But they were also in strictly delineated situations: Either waiting at a laundrymat, where I have reason to believe the person I asked to watch my stuff is going to be there for a while, or while waiting at a busstop, when I know the only bus that’s going to be coming along will be another 10-15 minutes. In both cases I knew my absence was going to be less than the time the person was expecting to wait (in the busstop scenario, I had already talked to the guy I asked, and he was waiting for the same bus I was.) and I didn’t get a ‘shifty’ vibe off of them.
Like Mr. Excellent said - it’s not that I’m worried about any mob of larcenous strangers from taking my laundry - just that small fraction who would consider it. Of course, I don’t leave anything all that individually valuable, either. Laundry, for the most part.
As for watching, I don’t mind - though I do stress about whether I’ll recognize the right person when he or she comes back.
What’s so odd about it? I’ve done it many times over the years, especially last year pre-knee replacement when walking was particularly painful, and I just had to hobble across the way to get a cup of coffee or make a quick pre-boarding stop in the ladies room. I ask someone who’s boarding my flight, and I try to pick someone I’ve been conversing with while sitting there. I have my doubts about it even technically violating TSA procedures since they just don’t want you leaving your bags completely unattended. If someone is supervising them, are they truly unattended? I’ve never heard a requirement that I have to know the person for X period of time for them to be trustworthy to watch my knitting bag for three minutes. And I’ve often been asked to watch someone else’s carry-on under the same circumstances. Maybe I just have an honest face.
So you’re the reason they ask that dumb question. Are you also in contact with farm animals at your destination?
I had a girl in Hoboken, NJ ask me to parallel park her car for her while I was walking home from work. Never mind that we are only a 15 minute drive from Newark, NJ the stolen car capital of New Jersey. I had half a mind to drive it home with me, but I think she saw the evil gears turning in my head and changed her mind.
Has anyone ever had this problem? I am probably one of the most oblivious people on the planet, and have run into this situation once or twice. A random person will ask me to watch something for them, walk away, and a minute later I will realize I have absolutely no recollection of what they look like - really anyone could have come back and claimed their stuff, and I wouldn’t have known…
I once got my car stuck on a pier in a true “Austin Powers” situation. A complete stranger got it facing the right way for me…
In addition to what Mr. Excellent said, I also think that the people who do this have already made a judgment call as to how trustworthy they think you are. They wouldn’t ask it of someone who looked unsavory to them (how they define “looking unsavory” is another matter altogether). So they’re just weighing the odds of actually getting their stuff stolen vs. the convenience.
Speaking of which, I once made a pretty poor call when I went to this eatery in nyc whose name escapes me. There was a somewhat pretty but extremely drunk girl there who said to me that she thinks I should move my car up a foot or so, because it’s parked too close to the hydrant (I was pretty drunk myself - my friend drove). So I flippantly ask her, “Oh yeah, you wanna move it for me then?” And naturally she says yes, and I hand her my keys.
Yeap, I handed my car keys to a plastered chick in an east village late night joint so that she could move my car up. Probably only because she was kind of cute. I didn’t even ask her if she knew how to drive manual (a bit less common in new york).
I lived in Israel during the (first) intifada. The idea of a complete stranger leaving their bag in front of me and walking away still makes me extremely suspicious.
Even though I’m not in that culture anymore, I’d still apologize and say no; and I would never ask someone I don’t know to watch my things. I don’t trust anybody, apparently.
On the bright side, I’ve never had anything stolen from me, and I’ve never been blown up.
I’ve never asked someone to watch my stuff for me, I’m always paranoid that it’s too much like issuing an invitation to help yourself to my luggage while I’m in the bathroom trying to avoid a wide stance that could be misconstrued by the guy in the next stall.
I think what I’ll do is start having some pre-printed sticky notes to leave on my suitcase: "If you touch this, you will be in A WORLD OF PAIN!
I’ve done it, on both ends. But then I live in the largest small town on the planet and it’s not uncommon here.
I do sometimes take real valuables with me, but I’m paranoid compared to most people I know.
About ten years ago, the spousal unit went to Israel. An elderly couple sat their luggage down and asked “Can you watch this for a minute while we go <whatever>?” “Yeah, sure, no problem.”
That lasted about ten seconds, until the nearby Israeli guy-in-uniform (not sure what organization but evidently in charge of security for the area) REAMED them all three out.
It seems ya don’t do that in Israel. Huh, imagine that. :smack:
Not a coffe shop(that I can recall), but and nothing so valuable as an ipod, but I’ve asked fellow students to watch my stuff while I run to the bathroom. I know their names but not much more than that. When we start getting into the realm of personal electronics, though… I think I’d just haul them along with me.
-Lil
I’ve had people ask, but I also live at the end of town that consists almost entirely of university campus. So, mostly I run into it on the campus itself, and places around the campus like the movie theater, coffee shops, bookstores, etc., where students are likely to be the dominant social group.
Nobody here thinks anything of it. I suspect it’s a combination of students being a fairly cohesive social group, all of whom are used to wandering around at odd hours by themselves, and students being smart enough to realize that nobody who’s hanging around the library is likely to have anything worth stealing.
Found myself downtown, on time for an appointment, with my brand shiny new bicycle. Problem was, while attempting to attach a basket I had removed the lock and chain and failed to replace them.
My bike was so new it was sure to attract attention, I didn’t have time to return home, there was no way to leave the bike unattended to alert my appointment of my circumstance.
What to do?
Saw a couple of fellas hanging about drinking coffee, asked them to watch my bike while I went in search of a lock in any of the nearby shops. They said sure. They could have been homeless, or bums, but they seemed flattered that I would ask and I was in a spot and had little choice. They said sure.
Scoured the stores, found a lock but no chain and returned to retrieve my bike. Thanked them very much (had no money on me, only a credit card), locked up my bike and apologized to my appointment for being late.
Whenever I have been asked I happily accept and watch peoples things for them.
I’ve had complete strangers I’ve never met before ask me to mind things, yeah. Maybe mine’s the face any crook/thief/utter ratbag would never have, so even kids trust me. But I’d only have friends look after my stuff, people I trust absolutely. Lost too much over the course of living depending on just blind trust.
Not only do total strangers ask me to watch their stuff, I’ve escorted male strangers’ female children to the potty in airports & malls. Usually Grandpa-ish men, and bouncy early grade-school girls. It always makes me wonder if he’ll be there waiting when we come back out, or if I’ll end up in an extensive interview with the FBI. So far, so good.
I am a decent human being, but I usually look either confused or surly. I have no idea why a complete stranger would make a instant postive value judgment about me, but they do.
Likewise, from growing up in a country regularly targeted by the IRA. In fact, I find it slightly worrying that present-day assumptions about terrorism revolve around suicide attacts, and that it’s perhaps even easier to plant timed bombs in luggage than it was ten years ago.
This happened all the time at the university library. Odd considering there was a spate of laptop thefts; I suppose the theives could have been non-students, but it was pretty difficult for non-students to get into the building, so the fact that the person next to you was a fellow student was not the most reassuring thing in the world. I did notice that people never asked me to watch their stuff until I’d been sitting there for a while, though. I think people assumed that if you had been sitting there for the past few hours typing feverishly you weren’t there to steal laptops.
I agree with HazelNutCoffee, I’ve mostly been asked while sitting in the library at school doing my own thing, by someone at an adjacent table doing their own thing after I’ve been there awhile. I’ve also asked in the same situation. I think it makes sense that what Mr. Excellent said is the reason. If your there doing your own thing, you’ll not be likely to just get up and steal something from someone just because you can, however there are those theifs that just wander the library, or other public area, just looking for something to steal.
It happened to me once in downtown Oakland, on the street (I was waiting next to a BART entrance for my ride to arrive). I was gobsmacked. When the guy got back, I gave him a lecture. I could have been 6 blocks away with his very nice bicycle.