Lessons Learned From a Foiled Laptop Robbery and an Action-movie-style Foot Chase

I write this column from the scene of the crime.One eye remains glued to the front door, even though I know the odds are low that the criminals will target me again. I am drinking a latte in a ceramic mug, just as I was the day the crime was committed.Allow me to explain.On a recent Monday afternoon, I was sitting where I often sit (at my local Starbucks), doing what I often do (hammering away on my laptop). I was immersed in the labyrinthine intricacies of filling out some freelance paperwork. I wasn't really paying attention to my surroundings. Just another day.Before I had time to register what was happening, my laptop was no longer in my lap. It had been yanked from my fingers. As I saw two teenagers sprinting out the door and across the street, I realized I had been robbed.It took a second for this to register. It took another second for me to decide I wasn't going out like that. An open laptop, logged in, with passwords and everything else at risk? To quote Sasha Baron Cohen's Bruno character, Ich don't think so. I found myself giving chase across the street, through four lanes of oncoming traffic.  Continue reading...