People Who've Been Asked "Watch My Stuff For A Moment" Share What Happened

The Sidekick....

When I was 8 I was walking to the corner store when I saw my friends older brother with his pitbull. He asked me to watch his dog (he was on a leash) for a few moments so he can go in a buy a soda. So he walks in and this pitbull (probably twice the size of me) just goes nuts at a bird and takes me with it around the parking lot. Moots_point

Run! Whiskey Run! 

I was a regular at a very mellow bar and would often be the only one there besides the bartender. One day he said he had to go out for a minute and asked me to watch the bar. It's the first time that has happened to me and I felt pretty good about being trusted like that.

20 seconds after he leaves a dude runs in the door at speed, jumps and slides across the bar, grabbing a bottle of whisky and jumps off at the end running out the other exit. It happened so fast and was utterly out of character for the area.

Like a minute later the bartender came back and was like... what happened? I tried to explain but he couldn't keep a straight face. The other dude works up the street and was coming to meet the bartender and couldn't resist the opportunity to mess with me and went and gave the bottle back to the bartender.

That they played the prank actually made me feel much more part of the family there than when I was asked to watch it to begin with. jwm3

Are you Married?

I used to work at a coffee shop and people would ask that pretty regularly. Generally it wasn't a problem except one time when guy leaves his laptop on the counter to be watched ... girl comes up and tries to take it ... I grab it and put it behind the counter ... turns out it was his girlfriend and he acted put out that I hadn't let a stranger (to me, if not to him) walk out with his laptop. CursusUrsa

Oh the slots! 

Friends invited me to go with them to a large casino and "try my luck" at slot machines.

While I was playing a slot, the lady next to me - a woman probably in her 80s - asked if I'd watch her machine while she made a quick visit to the ladies room. I smiled and said that I'd be glad to reserve it for her.

She left the machine with over $485 credit displayed in the machine's credit window - just waiting to be played or cashed out.

Some guy game along, spotted the $485 credit, and sat down at the machine faster than I could stop him. I explained that I was "watching" the machine for a lady using the lavatory. But he didn't care, and was about to push the "Max Bet" button ($3 per spin) to start gambling using the lady's credit.

Fortunately, a casino attendant came by and I got him to intervene just as the lady returned. The guy was physically removed and escorted out. Back2Bach

The Kids are Alright....

We took my daughter to the local children's museum recently. Right as we walked into one of the rooms, this poor woman comes running up to us asking me if I would hold her baby because her daughter was stuck in the slide. I held the little guy and made sure that I was in her line of sight the whole time. She seemed really embarrassed but stuff happens and kids are unpredictable. Apparently I don't look like someone who would kidnap a child. mudbean

Silly Tourists....

I was posted up with some friends at the beach and these dudes asked us to watch their stuff while the swam. 30 minutes later the tide starts to roll in getting dangerously close to their stuff so me and my friends haul 5 dudes stuff 30 meters up to where we are. I'm talking coolers and chairs and everything. They came back and thought we moved their stuff because we were trying to hit on them. Helloooo dumb tourists, your sh!t almost washed away. HappyOpal

It's a dog!

I was sitting with friends in a cafeteria at college and a women set down a tote bag and asked us to watch it while she went to the bathroom. Not long after she walked away a chihuahua poked its head out. I was delighted, but seriously, say there's an animal in there!! Notathrowawaysleeve

NO Ice Cream for you! 

One time I was at McDonald's with my son (we were traveling) and a woman came to me with her son. He seemed to be about 3. She looked very sick and asked me to keep an eye on him for a couple of minutes. She went in the bathroom and I could hear her coughing all the way out in the play area. While she was in there her son asked me why I was so fat. I told him I was going to have a baby soon. No further drama. She came out a few minutes later, thanked me, bought her son an ice cream cone and they left. UffdaWow

Do I know you?

"Save my seat" in a sold out movie theatre with a popular film is a huge pain in the butt. Thankfully most theaters around have gone to assigned seating by now. AyronNorya

Gimme 5....

I've bugged people by saying "5 minutes aren't up yet, I can't let you take this," but besides annoying the requester, it's usually the act of someone watching it, that keeps it secure. IGetYourReferences

A Jay's Jinx....

After a Blue Jays game in Toronto, my brother in-law and I were asked to watch a hotdog vendors cart so she could use the bathroom. To be fair, my BIL is a cop and I've been asked if I'm military, both clean cut blah blah. Lady runs into the train station and we start getting customers. She was gone for 5-10 mins but we made her $60. We walk away with a dog and pop and of course, a Jays loss. PineappleBum

The Venice Trap! 

Walking on Venice Beach boardwalk once when one of the artisan vendors stopped my wife and begged her to watch his little booth as he really had to go to the bathroom. She agreed, he fled, holding his butt. hehe. Lord knows where he ate that morning! She called after him "Hey, how much are these paintings?" "$10 for big, $5 for small," he hollered back while still running to the toilet.

Anyway, my wife embraced the moment, actively started peddling and charming those in earshot. I was chuckling watching it all. She explained she knew absolutely nothing about any of it, or the artist, other than he wasn't having the best of days... and sold two of his little paintings in the 15 minutes he was gone!

He returns, she handed him the 10 bucks and pointed out the empty spaces where two prints were, then said, "In case you didn't make it, I figured you might need an emergency clothing fund." haha.

PS: some of you might remember this day on Venice Beach, actually. It was the same day that bizarre lightning bolt (on a perfectly sunny, clear day) struck the water near the beach, killing two people, and sending 12 to hospital! My gawd. I remember the huge BOOM from that strike! I thought a bomb went off. DCCrankmusic

Can you swim?

When my friend was traveling around America, a guy asked her to watch his stuff while he went swimming at the beach. Turns out he almost drowned while he was out there. Ambulances and police showed up and she had to give a statement. I don't think she ever found out what happened to the guy before she left to come home. UnrealDisco

Nights at the Pub.

Yes.

The pub I go to has a few customers who always leave their drinks with others. It's gotten to the point where everyone knows the drinks are theirs, and no one cares.

Once, though. This one time, some fool walked into the pub looking for a fight and was apparently just taking drinks out of people's hands and trying to neck them. I had no idea about this at the time, but he walked up and grabbed one of the drinks that I was asked to look after.

It was just strange. I asked him where the hell he thought he was doing, and he just got really aggressive. Next thing I know: the police are there.

It was an incredibly strange night. ionised

What's your internet password?

Guy told me to watch his stuff because he was going to take a nap. Slept like an hour, but I was stealing the free WiFi so I didn't really mind. sleepilyLee

Going Number 2?

Once I was on the train to go home, and a cute couple sits in front of me with their bags. After a while, they both go to the bathroom and ask me if I can watch their stuff. I say yes, knowing that my stop was 10 minutes later and figuring that it wouldn't have taken them more than that to come back from the bathroom. Turns out it actually did, I had to leave and there was no one else there I could warn, so I just got off the train. Still don't know what happened. Maybe they were mad when they saw I wasn't there anymore, but I couldn't miss my stop, and who tf goes to the bathroom and stays there for more than 10 minutes, knowing that their stuff is all out there being watched by a stranger? Stillstilldre

Don't Play! 

When I worked retail, a lady came up to me and said that her son was wandering around the store. We were in a strip mall, so she was going to go to one of the other stores for a "few minutes" to teach him a lesson about not wandering off. And then she left.

Within, like, two minutes, the kid came up to me asking to help find his mom. I told the truth, that she had run next door and would be back soon, but he was so bummed that his mom would leave him behind like that. AmbizzleQ

Baggage Claim....

I was waiting in line to board an Amtrak train when the woman behind me in line asked if I would watch her suitcase while she ran to the bathroom. The gates hadn't opened yet so I said sure. Shortly after she left, the gates opened and it was a mad dash to the train. I felt like I would be trampled if I didn't move, but I didn't want to bring her suitcase with me because I wouldn't know how to find her. And my selfish butt didn't want to risk not getting a good seat on the train. So I left the suitcase there and went to get on the train. Didn't see her again. I still feel bad about that. murrrdith

Kidding. Maybe?

No, but I do like telling people that I don't mind watching their stuff but also what should I do if someone does try and take it? Usually they'll joke back, but some times their faces go completely blank when they realize that they don't actually know what they expect someone to do. ImposingPenguin

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