MF stole my mate's bag!

Yesterday I met up with a good friend and colleague for a burger. We always have such a great exchange of ideas. It's always super fun to catch up because he's the kind of guy that has this restless energy. He's always got something on the go, always thinking about cool new ideas and challenges. Basically everything that a builder should be: inquisitive, experimental, likes taking risks, plays with new technology, challenges himself, gets excited about what technology can do. We relate hard, especially in crypto-land, because blockchain continues to be a very exciting technology space. It was great to riff ideas last night.

Unfortunately our evening got cut short when someone swooped in and stole his bag from under the table. It just reminded me of how quickly these things happen. I know in London petty theft is an issue. Everyone tells you don't walk around with your phone in your hand, be careful in crowded areas, watch your backpack because pickpocketing and petty crimes is on the rise. I was doing all these things but even still, it happens so fast. It happened in a flash. I didn't even realise it was happening and it happened right in front of my eyes.

So we're sitting at a high table. Dom's bag is underneath the table, we've taken our bags off and put them on the floor by our feet. So stupid in hindsight, honestly. We had no control over them at that point. Someone had obviously clocked us, came downstairs, slid next to us, grabbed Dom's bag, slung it over his shoulder and disappeared in a split second. The only way I figured something was up was that Dom swung around and said, 'Hey, I think that guy's wearing my bag. I think he's wearing my bag.' And I had no idea. I was like, oh shit, this is what's happening. All of that took place in literally three seconds. That's how fast it is.

Poor Dom. I felt so bad for him because he came all the way out so we could grab a burger together and catch up and discuss ideas and riff. Only to have his entire evening completely marred by his bag being stolen. Fuck, it's just fucking terrible. I felt really bad for him. It was jarring. My bag was right next to his, what if I’d been the unlucky one?

But the next day, this has prompted me to get a bunch of AirTags. And maybe I'm over-paranoid now, but theft is a real thing and it happens, and there's no fucking way I'm going to leave my things intracked. AirTags have now become a feature. I'm currently obsessing about how I can integrate AirTags into stuff that I need to keep track of so that I have some chance of recovering things if I lose them or they get stolen.

What a crazy reminder that we've got to be aware. You can't just operate without street smarts. It's just that we've got to be aware of these things and AirTags feels like a good way to be equipped to deal with an incident should it happen. On the upside, I'm starting to realise that having a way to locate things is going to be really useful because I'm super forgetful. I misplace things all the time. Car keys included. So I'm not going to beat myself up about losing things anymore. I'm just going to fucking track them and solve that problem and take away the stress. It's a really elegant way to do that.

As an aside, when I was looking around for AirTag cases, I found that you can get one that will keep your AirTag alive for ten years. Found it on Amazon. Ten years. It's just awesome. Two AA batteries, waterproof, watertight case for the AirTag. Ten years. So it's pretty cool. I think that will significantly improve my life and reduce the anxiety of wondering what will happen if things get lost.

But it definitely has made me start to think about redundancy and what to do in an incident. Because it's always something that catches you by surprise. Yesterday really jarred me. I was under no illusion that this wasn't a thing. I understand it's a thing. It's just when it happens right in front of you, it really brings it home. It's a stark reminder. And it stings, you know. Fuck.

Sorry Dom that your bag got stolen, bro. I feel terrible for you, but it was great to see you anyway.