Well if you're working there every day and so are they, one would hope they're not a stranger anymore :) Also, no one's stopping you from bringing your laptop t

Well if you're working there every day and so are they, one would hope they're not a stranger anymore :) Also, no one's stopping you from bringing your laptop to the bathroom if you're worried the person you asked is going to steal it. I've personally never been in a restaurant or co-working space where I didn't feel comfortable asking a stranger to watch my stuff, but perhaps we frequent different places. It's one of those things where you just need to flex some social and observational muscles, remember your priors, and make a decision. What can you discern about the person you're asking? What kind of trends or aggregates can you use to decide if this is the kind of person who's going to steal your stuff? Are you in a nice part of Manhattan, or are you in the Tenderloin? Lots of factors, naturally. It's the kind of thing you have to decide for yourself in the moment, but I'd hope most people intelligent enough to be reading this have the social awareness to know when it makes sense to put your trust in strangers like that.