Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2020 January 7

= January 7 =

Coat racks at restaurants
Why do restaurants have unguarded coat racks? Surely they must know that once you turn your back on a coat rack, your coat has been stolen in under a second? J I P &#124; Talk 00:11, 7 January 2020 (UTC)
 * The last place I saw a coat rack around here was my church, and they've ditched it. When I arrived here in Arizona 21 years ago, the bartender guffawed at my query as to whether they had a coat check. There is simply no such thing as coat storage in any ordinary establishment around here. I can't speak to five-star hotels and resorts, though. Elizium23 (talk) 01:24, 7 January 2020 (UTC)
 * How often has this happened to you? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 01:40, 7 January 2020 (UTC)
 * In those European countries with which I am familiar (the UK, France, Switzerland and Austria), unguarded coat racks are not often to be found in restaurants; the practice is that you give your coat to someone to look after. However, they are very common in cafés. There is normally a disclaimer posted next to the coat rack saying that you leave items there at your own risk and management cannot be held liable for any loss. The point is that obviously you are not going to leave anything valuable like a wallet or phone in your unguarded coat, but the chances of someone stealing your coat itself are very remote. Like BB, I can't understand why JIP thinks this will happen in under a second. I've left coats on stands out of my sight many times and not once have they ever been stolen. Why would a thief bother? Most people, even thieves, already have coats, and the chances of stealing one that fits you are minimal.  Frankly, I'd be more worried about someone taking my coat instead of theirs by mistake. --Viennese Waltz 07:53, 7 January 2020 (UTC)
 * It is cultural. I live in the Bronx and stealing here is not stealing. It is normal. If it can be taken, it will be taken. My brother was in the Army and he ended up in Des Moines of all places. I visited him and he had lawn ornaments just sitting there. Nobody took them. He left his garage door open all day. Nobody took anything. It was crazy. He said that people around there just don't take stuff if it isn't theirs. So, if you live in a place like I do, a coat rack would be a stupid idea, unless you are doing the long con and you put the coat rack there just to steal coats. If you live in Iowa, it is certainly different. 135.84.167.41 (talk) 13:25, 7 January 2020 (UTC)
 * You may well have a point. However, JIP is European, and his assertion that coats in European cafés or restaurants will be swiftly stolen is without merit. --Viennese Waltz 14:03, 7 January 2020 (UTC)
 * It's a similar situation in Finland. In Helsinki, unattended things are often stolen, but in northern Lapland, people never touch anything that isn't theirs, even if it's left outside for all day long. This has even led to wooden rowing boats rotting away moored ashore because their owners are out of town and no one else wants to touch them. J I P  &#124; Talk 18:53, 7 January 2020 (UTC)
 * I see lots of unguarded coatracks here in Zagreb. I'll put my coat on them when they're in my line of sight and farther than me from the nearest exit, no problems (knocks on wood). However times have changed. In the 90s I had one coat nicked off the back of the chair I was sitting on. 89.172.38.145 (talk) 06:56, 10 January 2020 (UTC)
 * Make sure you sit on part of the coat to avoid that. Particularly valuable coats may be stolen and then sold. NonmalignedNations (talk) 01:57, 11 January 2020 (UTC)
 * Yeah we used to have a slang word for stolen coat resellers. Today most people wouldn't know what that word means. 89.172.2.98 (talk) 00:28, 12 January 2020 (UTC)
 * Are you going to tell us what the word is? Temerarius (talk) 00:22, 15 January 2020 (UTC)
 * Šaner 89.172.57.219 (talk) 01:01, 15 January 2020 (UTC)