Situation: I’m on a blanket in the park, listening to my ipod and soaking up some sun when suddenly a perfect stranger appears to ask if I’d be willing to watch her things while she runs to a bathroom. Now, in theory I have absolutely no problem with this whatsoever. I tell her as much and she is off. I then take a quick visual inventory of her possessions from my own blanket, glance around to see if anyone is eyeing them suspiciously and take comfort in the fact that this will most likely be an easy favor, a walk in the park if you will.
But of course my brain is already racing… what if it isn’t? The very fact that she’s concerned enough to ask a trustworthy-“looking” and/or nearby stranger to watch over her things implies she believes there’s at least a remote possibility of her things being stolen.
So what if someone does comes along and grab something?
What exactly are my responsibilities here?
Do I need to run over there and attempt to prevent the crime since I technically now have power of attorney over her things?
Or do I only take action if something is taken?
And what if something is taken?
Am I supposed to run after the guy? If yes I should probably be stretching a bit - especially since I’ll be doing so in flip-flops. Furthermore, clearly this means there are indeed criminals in the park so who will watch MY stuff while I’m chasing down a perp for this urinating stranger?
As I am fully absorbed in surveying the park dwellers for the second most-trustworthy looking stranger, my protectee returns from the bathroom, throws a nod of gratitude my way and probably never realizes just how safe her things were on my watch. And I can stop worrying about any of it and go back to my tunes.
