Why are we so trusting?

Walking into the library – just before those ominous gates – there is box of ping-pong balls and four slots into which you can drop them, allowing you to vote on a solution to the following problem: people too often leaving their belongings in the library (reserving plugs and free desks) for over 30 minutes, and sometimes even hours. 

Have we been lulled into a proverbial false sense of security? St Andrews is, by default, a safe town. It’s small, has a population that consists of elderly locals and a student body so tightly knit that everyone knows each other’s business. Fourth-year Mark Kersteen says that “a bunch of drunken St Andrews lads are more likely to break into a capella than glass someone”, and second-year, Toby Close, is certain “that if you pass out on the street here you’ll probably wake up with a blanket and a hot cup of tea.”

This mind frame strikes an appealing note and we’re all quite happy to agree with it, because, quite frankly, when else in your life will you enjoy such unadulterated security?! Leaving your laptop unattended in some library cubicle seems like standard procedure here. I’ve done it. I’m sure you have too. When the odd person asks me to look after their stuff while they run to the toilet, I just think, “WTF? What a weirdo”. I’ve come to realise, though, that we should be more careful, because our false sense of security often reaches the realms of absurdity.

The idea of theft seems a world away from St Andrews. You might think, “Oh, I’ll just pop to Zest for a Salad Niçoise!” Three hours later you come back and your £1,300 MacBook is gone. I can’t say for certain why we’re so trusting. Last year someone overheard another student say, “It’s so nice not having to worry about leaving your things in the library. You know poeple won’t steal from you because they probably have nicer things”. Perhaps that’s the answer.

However, I think we’re now becoming a little more sinister and are contemplating the worst case scenario when abandoning our belongings. The library has become riddled with “Eyes-in-the-Sky”: semi-circular black cameras that hang down from the ceiling – as if you’re in a Vegas casino, being watched at all times. And ever since the Coat-Thiefgate of late 2012 (I’m going to find you one day) people have been taking no chances. Yesterday I sat down at my friend’s laptop in the library and someone actually asked me whether I knew the owner of the computer! Good on you, fellow citizen. 

As safe as we may be in our village, you never know who’s lurking around the corner – so don’t leave your stuff lying around. Especially if it’s on a desk with a plug.

Image courtesy of www.woostercollective.com