At a restaurant in Santa Fe on the evening of out 1st wedding anniversary to celebrate. As we dined on the main course, server would take an item off the table every time she went by - which was relatively frequent since the table was in the hallway between the main dining room and the kitchen. After a certain point we just gave up and left.

David

Rarely would I be concerned about someone stealing a book that I left on the table to signal that it was still in use.

Well considering that you are afraid that somebody will steal groceries out of your car in the 10 seconds that it takes to return your cart at Costco, I would never expect you to leave so much as a plastic water bottle on the table. :idea:

totally. I’m amazed with people who leave stuff as if it’ll just be safely respected. Thieves break into cars to take things. Why wouldn’t they take a device or jacket that is left on a table? Just such a disaster.

Perhaps noticing the OP's FT handle would have made you less surprised about this :).

I agree. What's a book?
I stress about leaving my kindle or phone. I've often thought of dragging an old book around with me on vacations to save a pool lounge chair, but not to restaurants.

True. :D Whereas some of us don't think everyone is a criminal.
:D Some of us are old school and still prefer printed books, as opposed to e-books. I have never stressed about those disappearing, because if they do, I'll get another.

LOL--Oh I noticed. ;)
I used to do this all the time. Those chair vultures at resorts in Mexico would sometimes just throw the book aside and sit on the chair anyway & play dumb when confronted. It was brutal.

Obviously your experience is different but the parking lot at my Costco is always packed with people both in and out of cars. It takes less than 10 seconds to return a cart which is certainly not enough time to break into a car, grab groceries and run to a getaway car or run through the lot with arms full of food. Do you honestly see this happen...ever? What kind of paranoia makes you think that people are hanging around a Costco lot waiting to pounce on somebody's groceries in a few seconds? It doesn't sound like a very profitable way to be a thief. As I said in the Costco thread, if that really concerns you maybe instacart is the way to get your Costco stuff.
No one is saying to leave a rolex watch on a table but in the OP's case it was a root beer that he just got from the restaurant and it was not stolen. Maybe I just don't hang out in unsafe places but I do think most people are honest. Just last week, a friend drove off with her purse on the roof of her car and another car stopped and picked it up and chased her down and honked at her and gave her the purse back.
Way OT...sorry.

What kind of item? A dirty dish or something you were eating or what?

I recall back in the day I worked at a fancy restaurant, and we were supposed to take the salt & pepper off of the table every time someone finished their main course and before dessert. Looking at S&P shakers while you were eating ice cream and cake obviously caused a lot of trauma. Then when those people left and the table was reset the S&P came back for the new people. And was taken off when they had dessert. It was something I had such a hard time remembering (because it seemed so stupid to me) and I got reprimanded for it all the time.

She'd grab a roll/bread plate without stopping. Next pass was a partially drunk wine glass. Some silverware, again not stopping. All at random intervals. There's probably the S&P shakers as well but that was over 30+ years ago so I don't remember the full sequence before we gave up and left.

Very weird.

David

Most people ARE, but it only takes one. I'm not as paranoid as gaobest, but I kind of see the point. I don't think anyone wants my groceries, but in places like Chicago and the bay area, it's pretty crazy how brazen thieves have become. For example, a guy here had his car stolen in my very safe suburb while he was getting gas at a crowded Shell station at a busy intersection on a Saturday morning. There was just a story today about a small boutique in Chicago with a room full of customers being robbed in broad daylight - in and out in a few seconds. People are literally turning their backs for 30 seconds becoming victims. Come to think of it, I wouldn't be surprised if I hear about someone's groceries being stolen while they park the cart...