one of the greatest lessons learned this summer from being an OA is never leave your stuff unattended at the PCL or never leave your stuff with a stranger. however, you'd be surprised at the number of people who are strangers to me that have asked me to watch their stuff in the past several weeks. maybe they think i look like a nice person or maybe there are some trusting people out there or perhaps it's the fact that the PCL has video cameras all over the place and if I were to take a stab at thievery i'd probably get caught. but everytime someone i dont know asks me to watch their stuff I always think, what if I wasn't me? what if i was some person who sat at the PCL just waiting for these sorts of instances to happen so that i would be able to steal a nice new laptop?

i must admit that i too have been tempted to ask the person in the next cubicle if they could watch my stuff for me. many times i have been stuck with the dilemma of what to do when i'm studying by myself and i really need to pee and there's no one to watch my stuff. this is especially troubling during finals when space in the PCL is deeply coveted. my solution is usually to hold off as long as possible, until my face turns blue and pink and i really cant stand awkwardly sitting in a chair anymore, then do i give up my place and race to the bathroom with great speed.

i suppose the alternative is asking people to study with you. that way you can have someone to poke you when you're falling asleep or to watch your stuff when you really gotta go. one good thing about the Perry Castaneda Library is that more often than not, you'll run into someone you know but the downside is that the library is so huge sometimes you just dont end up sitting with the people you can trust your stuff with.

moral of the story: dont leave your stuff with a stranger but dont leave it unattended either!