synonyms for starbucks


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Letter Box: Leaving Stuff on Tables

Dear Synonyms for Starbucks,
When you get up from your hard-won and coveted seat in a Starbucks, what do you leave on your table to save it? Is it safe to just leave your laptop or purse or whatever, if you’re just getting a refill or going to the rest room?
Perplexed in Portland

Dear PiP,
Yeah I have no idea. I mean, I see people walk away from their laptops sitting open on their tables, or leaving purses with $100 bills sticking out of them, and I admire those people, but that is just not me at all. I feel like an idiot packing everything up–and if everything includes a big laptop it’s incredibly annoying–but I’m also scared to leave anything I don’t want to lose. Even though it’s possible to get a lock for the laptop (which is attached to a long cable you wrap around the table leg, so it can’t be grabbed), I always worry someone will spill something on it or something.
So, mostly, I only bring a laptop to Starbucks if I have a writing buddy (on of the many reasons a writing buddy is a nice thing to have). Otherwise, I write on my AlphaSmart or Ipad, both of which are easy to stick in my purse. To save the table, I usually leave a spiral notebook (cause who would want to take that?) and a sweater or hoodie on the chair. Probably no one is going to risk getting caught stealing for a ragged old hoodie (and honestly, if they need it that bad…). The one valuable thing I sometimes leave on the table is the wireless keyboard I use with my iPad. That’s because if I stick it in my purse I either have to turn off the blue tooth or know that my purse is going to hit both the “play music” key and the “full volume” key just as I’m entering the ladies’ room. So I leave it on the table and put my notebook over it. I figure if someone is actually moving things around looking for the stuff worth stealing, someone else will probably say something.
A thing I HATE to do (but do now and then anyway) is ask a nearby stranger to watch my stuff. One, I don’t know them maybe THEY’RE THE THIEF, and two, what if something happens and I’m gone for a long time and they have to stick around make sure I’m not robbed and they miss their kid being born.
On another note, if you agree to watch someone’s stuff you cannot leave for any reason until they either 1. get back or 2. are gone more than forty minutes, at which point it’s okay to alert the staff.
PS Oh, and never leave just your drink to save your table. Someone WILL throw it out and claim they thought you’d left.
PPS Of course you already know that it’s only okay to save your table for a few minutes while you get a refill, go to the rest room, or mmmmaybe take a quick call outside.