Japan Unattended Bags

Would love to be able to do that, but not I'm not trusting enough, even if others do it there's always the chance that someone will take my stuff!

Then again I could leave something invaluable, but that'd just get pushed away. -.-

Definite bag of poo for me! My stuff would be gone before i'd even let go!

Well some similar existed in college where you leave trays at the table you're sitting to lay claim to it...other than that doing that anywhere else you can kiss your property goodbye...

In my country, unfortunately this is impossible... Is not too safe to leave alone your bag, unless you want to steal.. (>_<)

Back in the small years, my bike was stolen as I was running inside a convenience store to grab a drink. Now I know better.. 'orz

In a restaurant at least, it's safe to leave your bag unattended for a bit over here =|

Depends on which part of the UK. Back in Rugby where I grew up, I would never dream of leaving any of my possessions in public like that. But here in St Andrews I will happily leave my bag/jacket to save my seat whilst I go to the bar to get another drink.

The best example of how safe this town is was when there was an art festival going on in town, they set up a couple of stages around the town centre & when it came to night time, they just left all of the expensive sound/light kit in the street completely unguarded, confident in the knowledge that nobody would steal it during the night.

No can do here in the PI.. A friend and me tried leaving a plastic bag with empty cans and then went to order, a few seconds after I looked back and saw that it was gone XD

The policy here is don't leave anything at all unattended.. Leave anything even those of no value, they would get stolen the second you take your eyes off em.

At a restraunt, its fine since you get served...

Otherwise, leaving a bag.... wouldnt do that if there was anything valuble in it, pretty sure its not going to stay when you get back. And leaving something like newspaper or w/e will just get shoved away ....

Best bet is probably a jacket or something, or even better, a "friend". Thats how you use them, right ? XD

on my neck of the woods that will only result in lost of your precious property *sigh* T_T, not sauce or poo in there though*...wish my country were like that in safety related stuff

Canada is a rather large country... in smaller cities it's not uncommon to see careless individuals leaving their bags unattended but in larger cities you're just asking for a bag of poo.
A friend came back from touring France recently and tells me you won't get a bag of poo, but a smoking crater. He says the culture in France has become so paranoid in today's "post-9/11" life that the automatic response is for the police to detonate any unattended bags. He momentarily put down his bag by his feet while he unfolded his map and people in the train station immediately began asking each other who's bag it was just to be sure before calling the local law enforcement. Yikes!

Look for a seat > leave bag at seat > go and get food > come back finds bag missing and the seat is taken

this is how it works over here.

yes i do that too if i am eating alone. if i am with a group of friends, we will appoint one friend to look after the table while the rest of us go buy our food.

in singapore, a common sight will be leaving paper of tissue paper to claim one's seat. it's cheaper and safer than leaving your bag. ('~')

singaporeans agree with me ya?

Leaving the bag works here in Singapore. But I see more and more people leaving less valuable stuff nowadays. I'm originally from the Philippines though. Leaving your bag on a seat to get food will almost certainly leave you without a bag.

well, I found this happens very often in the lecture rooms where ppl like put bags there to claim the seat.
but dont see this alot in other places, maybe cuz Canada is not crowded as other countries?

In general, I dislike leaving my stuff unattended, since America isn't exactly the best place to leave stuff lying around.

However, in my high school cafeteria, we do have the practice of leaving our bags to claim our seat while we go buy lunch.

Not good idea to leave bag unattended even in SG ^^; In canada sometimes I see people leaving their bags unattended -- asking for trouble ^^; My husband had his pocket picked before at a local fastfood chain before, and he was at his seat, jacket just hanging behind his seat =_= So bag of poo :P

I only do it in school but outside in the public, I just don't feel safe leaving them unattended.

If you leave your bag behind here in Brazil, you're begging to get mugged.
It's not very safe to carry fancy luggage around, obviously leaving them behind is even worse.

Sometimes people do that here but not that often. Depending on where you are there is a good chance of someone running off with it or just moving it to another table. lol

Yeah, leaving bags around here in New York City will either result in you never seeing that bag again, or a hysteria over a possible bomb or weapon of mass destruction, depending on where you are. Not much chance of getting your bag vandalized though. They would might as well steal it instead of pranking you.

Here, if we (family/with relatives) go to buffet/restaurant/fast food one or two of the group were asked to take table for the group while the other get/order the foods. Same goes to those who waited till the other done getting the foods.

Oh, I forgot to mention - last year, there was a trend in my high school called "j-packing"

It was originally stuffing junk into other peoples bags, but some people I knew started flipping people's bags inside out and repacking them - crude, yet classy, imo.

Well in my "kingdom" Just in private places is the leave the bag successful. In Public places, u can count like 10 to 20 seconds and magically the bag is gone!!! ^^ LOL

^^; if the tables are all full you can always try to bum an empty seat. surprisingly people seem to offer the spot w/o much effort. some even talk to you like you accompanied to the restaurant XD.

Sucks to be the guy in germany, but as they said.. when in rome do as the romans do.. ie put your stuff in a locker. if he tried that here i am w/o a doubt a thief with bolt cutters would come along eventually and take his stuff =P.

In the school community, I think it's okay, especially where all grades are having lunch together.... In my place though, it's actually a common thing too, but only in 'safe' places

never, never take your eyes off your stuff here, or indeed be parted from your stuff. the only exception is if you're with someone, and even then there is still more safety in numbers i.e. the more of you there are, the more people will be dissuaded from sitting next to you and/or getting a shot at stealing your stuff.

there's a reason why I use body bags instead of more feminine purses or whatever usually. I've become rather paranoid when it comes to my things, having suffered more than my share of thefts.

Yes, I used to do this at school and at the mall and other certain areas. But I can tell whether or not it's a good idea by the environment I'm in at the time. And what kind of eye contact I have on my stuff.
Poor dude at the station. I can just about guess his bewilderment. :(

Look for Table -> Steal enough chairs from surrounding tables -> Leave a family member behind to sit at table and watch over table/chairs/belongings -> order food including the leftover family member -> everyone + food comes back and we are happy.

that's how i do it o.o;

definitely "NO" in my neck of the woods...you'll lost your precious thing...T_T

I can only ever do this in Gloria Jeans. The Gloria Jeans here are pretty small and I can look over my stuff while Im waiting for my iced chocolate. 8D

People do this in the classrooms at uni too...they bag a good spot by just placing their bags on the seat. LOL. I've started to do this too, actually. :P

Sometimes I still do that. Depends on the place though. Nowadays you need to be more careful and can't be as trusting as in the past. I still see people leave all kinds of things unattended though. Bags, cameras, shopping items, cars w/keys in the ignition, mopeds still running, etc. I guess some people still feel relatively safe and trusting here, although I don't feel the same anymore.

If you do this in Los Angeles, say goodbye to your bag.

If you do this in Argentina, say goodbye to your bag the second you put it down, lol.

So yes, I never experienced something like this, leaving your bike, bag or misc. items unattended without fear of having it stolen. My most important possessions are practically stuck to me, I don't trust my fellow citizens.

people steal everything here. I leave a book, a frickin science fiction book, unattended for 10 minutes in an outside cafe and someone steals it.

Here in the states if you leave you bag, it'll get taken almost certainly.

I usually only do something like that at school. and that's only because my friends are usually there so they can watch my bag for me. At fast food restaurants, I usually have my friend order for me while I hold the seats.

What happens with me, is that my family and I always go out to eat together (4 people in total) so we always leave 1-2 people at the table to claim it, 2 people is best sitting in a diagonal to signify it is claimed.

I dont like to leave my things saving a seat, mostly because Im afraid of not seeing back my things. ;)

As many others have said, the play of events in my area 95% of the time would be find table > leave something to claim table > get food > come back to table > and either a) your stuff is long gone or, b) your stuff is thrown somewhere halfway across the room and your seat is taken by someone ready to argue with you about why it's their seat and not yours.

Over here, we use packs of tissue paper ^^;

write your name on the table/seat

Here, if your table is very near the road or street. Do put your belonging on a empty chair even though your beside it. A daredevil in motorbike would zoom past you and voila!, your bag is gone.

Good luck trying to fin your bag, when you leave it alone in L.A

Doesn't happen here too often, it's too dangerous to leave your stuff unattended. Crime rates are really high here, a lot of people steal because they are living in poverty.

Back in highschool, people would place their school bags to reserve a seat, since there was nothing valuable in the bag. Happens in uni a lot too.
So my guess is, there's nothing valuable in those bags, and isn't worth being caught for stealing something that isn't worth much.

well we dont have such problems here in restaurants since we get served by the waiters. but leave your bag or anything else behind and be sure to bid it farewell for ever.

Here you would lose your possessions just by walking without looking over your shoulder every 5 secs. (Yes, I have a trauma with walking on the streets here), I wish it was like in Japan in the whole world! ^^.

here in mexico if you leave the bag on the seat, say goodbye to your stuff

HAHA, you do that in America and your shiz will be gone before you can say dumbass.

I wish I could do that at times over here, it'd make reserving a seat at a fast food place a lot easier, but your stuff would be taken if you did that here.

If you do that anywhere but Japan, it would go something like this:

Find a Seat > Leave Bag > Get Food > Return to... Nothing.

One thing that is always appealing about Japan is the culture. Sure it has its weird bits, but overall the culture is very well mannered and structured.

if you leave your stuff, it's gone.

Well, in my neck of the woods if you put your bag down, you'll never see it again--or you may see it again, but with all the good stuff missing.

Leaving anything unattended means your putting up the sign 'steal me, my owner's an idiot'

I probably wouldn't leave my bag unattended in public except on the beach where it's pretty common place to do so. I don't think I would take anything valuable with me though.

I don't think it counts, but in secondary college, in earlier years when we had smaller lockers, we left our bags on top or under our lockers.

I wonder if there is a tradition somewhere, where they leave poo on the seat first before they go over to the counter. ^^;
but like everyone else said, in Manila if you leave your stuff unattended for a minute. consider it stolen. though in Vancouver, when I was a kid, I do remember my dad lost wallet. we traced back his steps and found the wallet in the middle of the sidewalk untouched. but as Chun mentioned above, it's probably very different these days.

I normally do it this way:
Order food > Look for a seat > leave bag at seat > go and get food > come back to seat with food to eat.
It only works at places where you have to wait for your food

Over here, the mere second your belongings was left unattended, the next thing it'll be gone before you know it~~~~~~~

It is unsafe to leave the bag at the table or on the seat.

Wow, didnt know in Japan they have this sort of things too! I thought it's only happened in Singapore ^^; I saw some people leaves their belongings like bags or their shopping bags in foodcourts / fast food to claim the seats though, but nowadays not so often anymore since most ppl here scared their belonging being taken away while nobody look after them...so yeah most of ppl in singapore use pocket tissues or umbrella or newspaper.

But I still see lots of ppl leave their laptop/notebook/netbook or their belonging if they're studying/browsing in cafe like CoffeBean or Starbucks to go toilet (with no one look after their stuffs) in here ^^;

I wouldn't leave anything unattended at a table. If it was something of any value it would be gone, if it was something of little value (like tissues or mints as Danny said) they would either be gone, defiled in some way, or brushed aside on the floor by whoever wanted to use that table.

>Does this "Unattended Bag" culture exist in your kingdom or is it "Bag of Poo" for you?
Same as in the UK I guess.

Hahaha, yeah, we have that custom here in Spain too XD Although you'd usually want to keep your eye on your bag as well, just in case :p

Last thing I would ever do here in the US is leave my bag with a laptop inside unattended. There are several outcomes to this, and it all depends on where you are and at what time. First, everyone could respect your stuff and when you come back you have a seat and your stuff is still there. Second, your stuff gets stolen but you have a seat. Third, your stuff gets stolen and you have no seat.

It all depends on where you are and who is around. Back in the university I go to I would leave my backpack at tables while I went to get food and when I came back my stuff would still be there, but I always took my laptop with me. Other times I would ask people to watch my stuff and when I came back my stuff was always where I left it. Worst case scenario at school would be someone stealing one of my expensive textbooks.

Most people here wont leave their stuff unattended and whenever in a group someone stays with the bags while someone else in the group gets the food for him/her.

Here people used to take the seat in trains leavin an hat, or the newspaper, something like this. Of course this is not anymore, because now place reservation is mandatory; but I clearlyt remember when I ws a kid people doin this. It happened also in cinemas -no more, too.
But in food places? Never see it, it was more of "one guy seat, the other goes to hunt food" thing. Right now though I dont see many people doin this anymore.

Depends... I lost my driver's license a few weeks ago. Someone found it and took it to the police and so I got it back but I wouldn't leave my stuff unattendet, not anymore :/

In Spain, unnatended something = lost something xDDD but well, Hector can tell you more about that XD

Interesting....it does exists a bit over here but people only do that when they know they won't go far from their bag. A good way is also to put your jacket on the seat.

Where i live, you would probably have your stuff missing after 20 seconds

Don't think it'd be wise to leave your stuff unattended here... unless you were trying to get rid of it that is.

Usually we'll leave a person in our party at the table to hold the seats/table for the rest while we go get the food.

Most likely won't do that back in Indonesia, people would take turns to watch the table
But we often do that a lot to get tables in library in Melbourne
I've never done it to claim tables here, though..

Do that here, and you'll never see your bag again!

Dont think anyone would do that here in my place...unless u wanna part with it forever.

That's a common scene at fast food chains here in the Philippines but we only leave stuff that aren't that valuable, like folders, paper bags with lunch boxes inside it.. Stuff that nobody would take interest in.

If I'm in a lecture room, at college or a restaurant, even some coffee shops, it's ok to leave your things behind (best not for too long, though). My hometown on the countryside used to be a safe place, but since the last troll invasions I don't know anymore. Of course, there are always wild goblins roaming around waiting for an oportunity to steal your precious equipment. If they come in packs, my stuff comes with me.

It'd be the "no bag when you return" option here. Nothing of any value can be left.

Chances over here are your bag won't get stolen, but people will just knock it over onto the floor, causing it to get flattened by the crowd. Not such a good idea over here.

these days if there's an unattended bag people usually start running and screaming!

Would never think twice about leaving my possessions on a table to reserve a table. The only time I would ever do that would be using a towel to get one of those seats by a swimming pool. Even then I've never done that.
My stuff'd get nicked and/or thrown about.

I've seen it done, but the owner is usually within earshot of their belongings

If I leave bag of my own poo in a clear plastic on a table, I'm sure no one will want to take it or sit at my table.

I usually have goods I bought from shopping so I just tend to order foods first and then try to grab a sit while I'm in Japan. I know Japanese people are mostly trust-worthy(I can leave my queues line in Comiket for 4 hours and come back and my bag is still there!) but just taking pre-cautions ^^;

Unfortunately we Malaysian are not as honest and kind as the Japanese. Leave your bag to claim seats only to find that your bag will be gone/stolen when you get back with your food.

I used to do that(okay, i still do sometimes), but right now I am afraid to do it. my friend got his bag stolen when he did that. and it was new too.

Haha in Singapore we would leave a tissue packet on the table which will means it's reserved. Funny i know, but that's how Singaporean "reserve" their table :P

wow defo in UK you would never leave ur bag, u would come bk to no bag or a bag with no contents lol. nice that you can do that over ther though

LOL although what other comments say about leaving things unattended here in the Philippines are true, I still leave my bag on a table to claim it. I usually leave it within visual range, always looking back every 3 seconds or so to make sure no one steals it :D

In italy it was as you wrote, but now when you enter in a McDonalds or other place like this you must FIRST take food/drink and AFTER search for seats and tables.There are allerts on the walls with this indications.....if i will go in this days i will take a picture of this allerts^_^

One if the aspects I do miss in Japan, being able to leave your stuff around, I casually go to pachi-slo with my friends and I love the fact that I can leave my ketai in the machine and walk away or even my wallet! Granted this was Hokkaido but man great times!

Gone gone gone....never leave ya bags or personal belongings unattended. I've even had colleagues lose their stuff from their own office cubicles....>.<

The only place i do this to claim a seat is at university.

At any other place chances are that it would be stolen.

If I'm alone, I would usually have my bag with me while I order my food before moving to a seat (I always have a seat in my mind while queuing :3)
With friends, usually one would stay behind and guard the seat.

Heard that using tissue paper packs to reserve the table in SG is common, but haven't encountered it yet :P

LOL, I saw an unattended duffel bag in JR Tokyo Station today - considered reporting it to station staff, but decided it was probably just typical "leave your stuff wherever, it's totally safe" Japanese culture. Methinks I was right :D Would definitely have reported it on CityRail back home in Sydney, though. It's more of a "if you leave it behind, clearly you don't want it and I'm free to take it" culture there.

In Malaysia, if you're eating in a hotel, it's generally safe to leave your belongings on your seat. In public areas though, it's a different story. While it's always important that you keep your belongings close to you if you're in Kuala Lumpur, my hometown of Kota Kinabalu, Sabah on the other hand, is dependent on what sort of demographic is currently populating the area you're in. Generally, the higher the number of immigrants, the more likely your stuff is gonna get stolen.

personally wouldn't try it out here in brussels. chances are your bag will be stolen by a hobo.

Well i think that is what singaporeans would do too. Since many leave tissue paper and handphones on their seats or even the whole table !

Bag of.... Wait a minute, you wouldn't even find a bag when you come back ^^;

Philippines:

Look for a seat > leave bag at seat > Go and Get Food > Return to seat to eat > Only to find the bag missing.

The situation above has a 99.9% chance of occurring.

You can do this around here in certain towns/certain times, but I wouldn't go to Philly or any other big city here in the states and expect to find my bag when I got back.

Over here, only at a gym it's pretty common to leave stuff such as towels or bottles.(no cells however). Anywhere else(public place) it wouldn't even touch the ground. And this goes even for worthless stuff no one's interested in.Even if they don't need it they'll still take it, play for a while and throw it at the nearest bin.

I (and others that I've seen around in my country) tend to leave a sweater or jacket on the chair, or anything of less value (like that second picture).
Though there is not often I have to do this since there is usually no long queues for food.

Well we tend to do that too by putting a newspaper or a tissue packet on our seats to get food but never a cellphone or a bag . As expected , Japan's Crime rate is as Low as Ever .

0_o I would NEVER do this from where I am from. Heck, people have to be careful of pick pocketers here. I like the fact that people in Japan don't have to worry about theft like they do here in the states. When I go there, I won't be leaving Haruhi or Konata to man the fort but maybe my coat or like Danny said, a newspaper.

We can do it...because we do it ourselves to reserve a seat...we usually use tissue papers unless it is not lunch hour...

Can't do this where I live. Soon as you turned your back on your stuff it will be stolen.

People here would respond like in Germany ^^;

I once noticed unattended bags on a station and started looking around for potential owners. If they haven't had arrived as quickly as they did I might have raised a bomb alarm. After all the police has arrested people for bombing attempts (and possessions of bombs!) so it might happen and the police used the media to tell people to be alert.

This is not something I think of normally. People don't leave their bags around at stations because either they will be fined heavily for stopping the trains (like in Germany) or the bag will be gone when they return. The latter is the most likely. People steal everything everywhere here. My mom got her coat stolen on the train while she was present. Somebody managed to sneak away with it without her noticing until it was too late and sadly this is a good example of what goes on all the time >_<

Stealing unattended bags is wrong... I prefer to turtle them :)
I see some cultural differences here. hmmm... well in hawaii, residents/tourists are usually kind with unattended things as far as I see it.

In my trip to Tokyo last year, while stopping by to a Starbucks to relax, I remember going around looking for any empty seats where me and my friend can sit down.

When I saw a bag on an empty chair, even though it's obviously a woman's bag, upon seeing a man sitting on the adjacent table, I simply assumed it must belong to his girlfriend or wife or whatever. When I asked if the empty chair opposite the said bag was taken, he told me he wouldn't know since it wasn't his bag.

Being used with living with vigilance against all sorts of pickpockets all the time, to this day I'm still quite shocked by that man's response. Even when it's Japan, I carried my valuables with me at all times.

If I ever live there, I think it's gonna take some time before I get used to such a carefree, unsuspecting culture.

I found it odd that in the UK how you had to go up to the bar tender in a pub to get served. Here you walk, sit down, and it's expected that one of the waiters will wait on you hand and foot. I have left my leather coat on seats in theaters though, to save my seat while I went to the bathroom, and it was still there when I came back. When it comes to people respecting your things, and not stealing them or what not, I think it's better here than in the UK, but it's still more like the UK than Japan.

Your stuff will get stolen in a heartbeat once left unattended here in new york.

Unattended bags here are taken (stolen) almost immediately. Depending on where you are, It can also be treated as possible explosives haha

Haha, maybe it would work 20 years ago but not in this day age.
Times have changed and over here in Holland an unattended bag = bombsquad

I know, people are just too paranoid these days. It's always someone's lunch ;)

Sadly, here that would be Look for seat > Leave bag at seat > Get food > Come back and find bag stolen, table covered in graffiti or on fire, and two thugs waiting to beat you up for your money and food.

It's sad to see what terrorists have managed to accomplish in the last 8 years. Every unattended bag is suspicious, every suspicious looking foreigner gets abused at airports. The German officials' reactions is therefore no surprise, as terrorists have lately begun to target this country with videos on which they clearly threatened to concentrate their attacks here as well, since elections are going to take place here soon and one of their demands was that the elected German government remove their troops from Afghanistan, too bad that the poor Japanese bloke had to pay dearly for this harmless incident...

in mexico it is *slightly* different... the process is like this:
1.- think of eating something while carrying your computer.
2.- walk towards the restaurant
3.- Be robbed with a gun on your head
3.- go back home without computer, food or money.

This is how things work around here:

Case 1: If you're in a McD's/fast food restaurant and leave your bag/cellphone/etc, you'll get: a) a stolen cellphone, b) a stolen bag, or c) a bag in the trash.

Case 2: If you're in the college's cafeteria you get: a) a stolen bag, b) a stolen CrackBerry, c) a stolen laptop or d) a bag in the trash.

Case 3: If you are at any public space, you get: a) stolen *insert anything here*, b) a *insert anything* in the trash or c) the Army/Navy/Police coming to apprehend you.

Choose you're favorite combo =D

Malaysia = no
but India u can , cuz people seldom steal here , but u may not get ur seat cuz they will shift ur bag to the side and take ur place XD.

Doesn´t work here. For some odd reason if you leave your bag openly here and then leave prepare to find that the bag is gone when you come back.

Sad but true.

jacket for me that I left when pick a food not bag

in portugal we do the same, at least were i live they do it. i personally don't like do it and i think it`s natural, i don't want my stuff robbed.

That would be a no-no here, like others have said as well about their areas, if you put it down and turn your back its gone. Ways of table saving in Texas, USA, is to have one of the other people with you stay at the table till you get back. Either order for them or they go get in line when you get back. I used to be a smoker and smoking was allowed inside years back, that was easy to do as occupying the ashtrays on the table kept others away.

Here you dont get poo for leaving your bags. You just lose the bags. I dont think Ill be doing that leaving the bag thing in Japan when I go simply because after living here so long Im just not comfortable leaving my possessions alone in public. I might do the old newspaper or box of mints thing, though.

Doing that in NYC would assuredly net you with an empty bag. Or worse, a bomb squad. Most people just put their jackets over the chair to mark their seat.

I would lose my things probably if I had done that. Maybe a jacket over the chair, but bag, nah.

Where I live in England, we often leave our bags and folders on the table while we get the food with no worry of theft of vandalisation. But I wouldn't be trusting enough to leave a laptop or a phone on the table.

JAPAN is UNIQUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here is the US? Bag of poo, left where the bag was stolen, plus a note that says "Take that, *insert profanity here.*

I left my new 500 yen umbrella leaning against a wall in Ueno station while I checked my map. Once I figured out where i was going, I went about 15 steps before I remembered I'd forgotten to pick up my umbrella, turned around and someone had stolen it. Good thing it was only an umbrella.

Here in Canberra students at the ANU leave their laptops and books and stuff over desks in the library for hours while they go off to lunch/lectures/whatever. Gets annoying if you're looking for a desk and half of them have been indefinitely reserved while people go off to do stuff.

It sometimes depends on the place but for fast food places, you won't see bags unattended here. If you do, it won't be there much longer. The bag may either be claimed by its original owner, if they're lucky, or their brand new owner.

In Taiwan you usually leave your kid or friend at a table instead.
People could probably leave their stuff there too, since there's security cameras on every damn little corner of everywhere except for toilets and private residences, so thief would have a hard time not to get caught. Maybe that's the same in Japan since people are so trusting?

In Costa Rica? No... You can't do such thing... Even for a sec. For example a friend put his phone on a table (at the library!)... in a blink... guess what? No so hard uh?

Yeah, the only place I feel mildly safe about leaving my bag unattended is the library, it hasn't gone bad yet, so... yeah XD

Hmmm at UBC it's pretty common, especially in the study rooms - people leave their laptop, phone, bag.. everything in the room while they go buy food somewhere on campus o_O

However, if you do that in Hong Kong, the thieves won't even bother swapping your bag with a dried maggot :p

hmm, if that's the case it is a effective method of baiting petty thieves XD it's irresistable to plot something nice for them XD lolz

I live in Russia, and we also have this tradition of marking a place with a bag. McDuck thought is a risky place, where your possessions can be stolen easily. So we take a wallet and a phone with us to the checker, and of course it is highly not recommended to mark your place with a notebook >__<
But no poo-in-a-bag-routine in my neck of woods (never ever heard of something like that!0_o). Only thiefs.

This is done not only in fastfood cafes but in a bus to.
The bus which takes me from my suburb to the nearest Moscow subway station waits for 10-15 minutes at my bus stop. Bags are leaved on the seats and passengers are out smoking or buying some gum/water in the nearby shop.

It's definitely "No bag for you come back one year" around here if you leave a bag lying around without someone you know and trust watching it.

Here, they would not even leave you a bag of poo. Poo is much too valuable for that, so they leave you a loan instead. Blackmailers!

日本では盗んで得られる利益よりも、盗んで逮捕されての損失の方が極めて大きいからでしょうね。
盗んでも誰かが見ていますし、また、日本の警察は優秀・・・もとい、しつこいですから。

In Germany it depends where you are. In a McDee at Central Station? I'm sure your stuff would be stolen in an instant. But in some areas outside it should work. Usually very safe are university places like libraries. Some students leave anything (but mobile phone and wallet of course) behind (notebook included), going to eat and nothing happens.

Your bag, phone, whatever would be gone in a second! In fact people have left their cars running, warming it up in the winter in their driveway or running in to a store for a second, and the car has been stolen. There have been numerous incidents where children were left in the car and taken along for the ride.

No way, it's like a open invitation to steal your stuff away ! The safest way is usually if in group of ppl (at lest 2 person) One book the place while the other order the food at the counter .

here in au, leaving your personal possessions around isnt an option as its ask to be stolen from and never seen again

In Thailand, it has this kind of culture but it depends on the place. Usually people do it in the university facilities such as library, canteen or other place. Sometime they don't leave only the bag. They leave laptop or DSLR camera too.

Used to be widespread in Singapore. 'Course, the thieves quickly learned to spot prey... ^_^|||

Definitely won't be able to do that. It'd disappear if I even turn around.

while i was born, raised, and lived in Singapore for 14 years, and while i have moved away from there now and was not there when the craze started, there is no way in hell that i would condone leaving tissue paper or newspaper on seats or tables to reserve them. to me, that's just being selfish and conceited. i would probably end up looking at the pack of tissue paper and newspaper and go, "hey look! reading material and something to clean myself up with! sweet!".

obviously, this would be an *unused* pack of tissue paper.

I leave my bag on a seat while I go to get food- but only if someone I can trust is nearby to keep an eye on it.

Hmmm... instead of tissues with poo you can always bring a some chocolate powder that you can mix with water and then put that on a tissue to use to reserve a table :D

But yes... I wouldn't trust putting my stuff unattended like that here 0.o

hmmm.... in my region, my bag would have been gone the moment i left it unattended....

Well, pretty sure if you leave a bag of poopies on a chair to be reserved for yourself no one would even go near it
However, if it's something valuable - looty loot loot
I think it was possible to do around 9 years ago in Canada, people were honest. Times have changed though

You can leave bags unattended here unless you leave them with your friends except at my university. I lost my ring the other day and ran back to find someone had actually returned it =D. People at my university either a) return lost items or b) leave them were they are unless it's a paper or pencil or something (art students will take hb pencils and paper ^^;). You find giant lost and found bins in the lecture halls. It's amazing.

I did lose my bus pass and about 5-10 minutes after realizing I lost it, it had been stolen ^^;. Same with a new box of fineliners once. It's just my university that has this sort of exception.

In Barcelona definately you cannot leave any of your belongings unattended, not even hanging from your chair. I witnessed how some guy approached a man drinking his coffee in a cafeteria, and asked something (probably "what time is it") and suddenly grabbed his small bag + cell phone from the table and run out of the bar.. right in front of his nose. Good luck the waiter was fast enough get the running guy and could get the bag back, but not the phone. So if you come and visit Barcelona, watch out! xD

In Singapore, they use Tissue Pack to book a table. Go to any Food Court and you see a table reserved with it.

Here, pretty much any public place, there are signs that say something along the lines of "theft is a problem in this area, please do not leave belongings unattended."
so for the most part, we don't have this practice here...

And with the amount of people we have, saving spots isnt really a priority...

i'm not trusting enough to leave stuff unattended.. whether i could in theory, iunno.. i've seen other people do it tho..

Over here its not really bags, but i usually see jackets and things that people would be less likely to steal. Personally, I don't do it. I think growing up in Chicago has made me a bit more cautious, as well as having a bag stolen off of me while i was sitting. ^^;

Being in Philly, this reminds me of a movie called "Gone in 60 seconds"

It's not advisable where I live to leave bags or anything valuable unattended, even if it's for a few minutes. If it's a fast food restaurant and you leave a newspaper, it would probably get pushed aside.
When I was in Kyoto a few months ago and saw that a lady left a cell phone on the table of a fast food restaurant. She was gone for well over 10 minutes so I thought she had forgotten it. I flagged one of the workers and told him that someone had left their cell phone. As I was telling him, the lady came back and wondered why we were holding her cell phone. It was quite embarassing!
But after reading this article, I know why now!

We do similarly in Greece when we wish to claim a sit but we don't leave valuables or wallets unattended.

Leaving unattented bags like that could only be done in Japan. Where I live it would be gone in a sec - unfortunately. Remember being in Japan and seeing this sort of thing all the time, and it gave a sense of security - ooh, how I miss you, Land of The Rising Sun!

you cant leave bags unattended in our area, they would be gone when you got back.....

I can see leaving an actual bag of poo to save a spot, that would work in my area. But would involve the authorities and some fines... But anything other than a bag of poo such as a newspaper or magazine, or jacket and the item would mysteriously go missing and someone else in the spot you had claimed.

Danny, go to Singapore and sit at a table that has a packet of tissue on it and you'll be in for a long nagging session and with an aunty . Have fun getting scolded and good luck avoiding being hit by an umbrella

hmmm...note to self; when in japan, test this theory.

This is something you can never do in New York City. Your property will get stolen the moment you step foot away from it. ^^ hmm...however in Japan, I always leave my stuff around. Even at concerts!! I leave my bags at the back of the venue while I go to the front. In the end I go back to find that everything is inside! ^^

I live in Brazil, and people do that all the time with purses, cell phones, magazines, books at all kinds of public places.

And I HATE it! ¬¬

Just got back from Tokyo, lots of people leave their bags and detergent in the laundromats.

Around here in public, my personal belongings stay with me; no matter what.