So I'm sitting at Starbucks in one of the cushy chairs in the corner, and there's a gentleman I don't know sitting in the chair next to mine. Since I've been here, he's gotten up to check on something in the parking lot, leaving his coffee on the table. He came back for a while, then got up again to go to the restroom again leaving his coffee on the table and the book he was reading on his chair. And he just came back again, enjoying book and coffee.

So the question, if you're in public like this, do you trust the other people around with your personal belongings? If you leave your coffee unattended, do you come back and drink it? Are you paranoid about what could have happened to your stuff while you were gone, and wonder whether it will be there when you come back? As the person sitting in the next chair, was I supposed to be watching it for him, even though I wasn't asked?

It just amazes me when I see this stuff happen, because I have sort of been conditioned to trust no one I don't know. I always take all of my belongings with me when I leave my table, even if I'm planning to come right back.

How about you?