I spend a decent amount of time at a quiet little Starbucks just minutes from my house. It’s cool to be a regular because the barista’s get to know your orders and even the patrons begin to become familiar faces.

When you work at a Starbucks there is one inherit flaw that seems to plague everyone. You’ve got a good seat, near an outlet and your laptop is all setup. Now you’re working and drinking and working and drinking. Eventually all that coffee is going to catch up to you and you’ll need to go to the bathroom.

Here’s the question do you pack everything up or do you leave everything and risk theft? All too often I get asked to watch someone’s stuff while they’re gone which I find interesting because I’m really only willing to go so far for a strangers laptop.

Let’s say someone did decide to steal their stuff during the 30 second trip to the bathroom. Someone bold enough to steal their stuff is either going to run right out of there if confronted or stand their ground. The former would require me to leave my laptop alone and vulnerable while I give chase and the latter would require confrontation. If you’ve ever met me, you’d know that I would not be all that effective in a foot chase (I joke to my wife that I’m her “chubby hubby”).

Now I’m all for a good tussle if it’s defending a woman’s honor or benefiting a long standing tradition of bar fighting on St Patricks Day but I’m not sure I’d throw down for someone’s laptop. I mean is this thing a crappy company computer or is it the only thing standing between a student and his diploma?

Here’s another thought, if I agree to watch your shit am I now liable for it? Cause I will write up a waiver for these guys to sign before I agree to anything. Maybe I should start offering this as a service, buy me a coffee and I’ll keep your computer safe for up to 2 minutes.

Jesse