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"How to sit at a cafAMPeacute;"
07/31/2003 Entry
Unfortunately, this is the second time within a month that I find myself commenting on security/privacy issues with respect to computers. My last such message was prompted by a burglary. This time I write because a good friend of mine had his laptop stolen right from under him at a café in London.
A really efficient way to prevent such an event is to put your feet around the strap of your bag ALWAYS. I do this with my bags of various types at cafés and restaurants alike.
I learned the hard way myself. I once had something stolen from right under me at a café in New York. I must have been so engulfed by reading Durkheim that I did not notice someone swiping my backpack from under my table. I was relatively lucky though. I had just gone home and changed bags. The only things in my bag were a CD and my calendar. The bag itself was a conference bag, which would have been neat to hold onto, but I have done just fine without it. The calendar was trickier as it had contained the phone numbers of everyone I knew in the city (I was living there at the time). Luckily, someone called me a few days later to say they had found it. He delivered it to my place. (Note that sometimes this can be a trick to get into a person's place. I lived in a building with a doorman and was not at home when the person made the delivery so it was safe.)
The point is, do not wait for something to be stolen from right under you before instituting this very simple little ritual. Always put a foot around the strap of any bag you have with you. Last year at a conference I attended, several people reported having their bags stolen from the back of their chairs and such. It is not worth the risk, use that strap to your advantage!
Replies: 2 Comments have been posted, click here to see them and add your own
I very rarely haul bags around NYC; when I do I always keep hold of them. I don't even have a pocketbook; Goddess bless hip packs!
Posted by Elayne Riggs @ 07/31/2003 04:43 PM CST
I thought of that once,but I never thought if the guy had really wanted my bag so bad as to drag me out across the near empty cinemas floor and to simply kick me off when he noticed the bag was a little heavier then it should have been. U see,the strap was around my leg, so when he pulled, I went with it.
Posted by Steve @ 09/06/2003 03:26 AM CST
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