On Trusting Strangers

I realized something today as I was working (yes working...for real money!) in a coffee shop. I spend a lot of time at coffee shops and other places that provide free wireless internet. I'm not alone. At any wireless venue, there are other wireless folks doing the same thing.

There must be this unspoken wireless community because on any given day I am asked at least once to guard the computer of someone I've never met while they go to the restroom or the counter or the car or somewhere that requires a temporary departure from their table.

I always say yes, and never once has some unsuspecting Joe tried to abscond with their computer, but I have to admit I do wonder at the ease in which I could get a free computer. I mean I could get almost one a day! The primary problem with this being the danger in reappearing at these coffee shops another day. I could be recognized as "the one who said she'd watch my computer" and be on my way to the county pen or wherever they'd take hardened criminals like me.

Okay, so I'll admit that my liklihood to reappear in the location of the theft is a deterrent from stealing computers from places I frequent. However, if I were to go across town to somewhere I never go, say Marietta, I could have some luck. It's worth thinking about. (Although suddenly I realize that by blogging about it I am basically confessing to the world that I'm not to be trusted with computer-sitting.)

The funny thing is, I have never heard of computers being stolen in this manner. I mean surely they are, don't you think? And yet I am guilty of the same crime of putting my faith in a complete stranger to watch my computer when I need to walk away.

I didn't use to do this. I used to fold up my computer and cart it with me to the bathroom, but really truly, that is a big pain. Not only do you have to lug this thing in there, but you usually have to set it somewhere which is either the floor (dirty!), the sink (potential water damage!), or on top of the trashcan (requiring a rather risky balancing act). And worst of all, you have to log back on to the internet when you get back to your table. Or maybe the worst part is the way your table neighbor glares at you as you carry your computer back from the bathroom as if to say "What, did you think I was going to steal your computer or something?"

The way I prefer to look at the whole scenario is one of putting self-focused materialistic Americans in the position of trusting one another. Of assuming the best rather than the worst of your neighbor. Maybe the coffee shops that host free wireless are doing more than just providing an internet service. Maybe they are building a community that harkens back to the days of Andy Griffith. The days where you could leave your door unlocked and your car windows down. Maybe there is hope for us yet. Or if not, there's always a free computer.