I'm generally quite careful with my belongings when I'm out in public. I'd never leave my stuff out unattended and never with a stranger. But when I was in Lo

I'm generally quite careful with my belongings when I'm out in public. I'd never leave my stuff out unattended and never with a stranger. But when I was in London, I was being constantly nudged by people to move my belongings, secure them better, etc. I remember being in a pub and my bag (which contained my laptop) was just resting right next to my chair on the floor. A woman who where there came up and said, "You'd best move that unless you want it to get nicked." This was in Soho, so it's not like I was out in the boonies, either. I've lived in SF and Chicago, but I'd never be that careful here. So, perhaps London has more petty thefts than the typical American is used to? I dunno, but everyone around me — friends and strangers alike — seemed to be orders of magnitude more conscious about it than I was, and I consider myself pretty conscious.