So do you know how in the US we always charge our cell phones in public places? It turns out you can’t do that in England. I saw a cluster of outlets located at the waist level at Waterston’s and concluded they must exist specifically for charging phones.
But when the store workers saw my phone charging, they flipped. In the UK, charging the phone publicly seems akin to masturbating in public because the store workers seemed horribly embarrassed about the whole thing. After I removed my charger, I continued browsing books but the workers kept practically wriggling in shame around me.
Finally, a young woman approached me and with a whisper that 100 years ago was used for offers of pornographic postcards informed me that there was a booth on the third floor of Selfridge ‘ s where I could “do it privately.”
So I headed to Starbucks and proceeded to “do it” publicly because it will just be the limit if my charger gets banned from homey old Starbucks as well.
When you travel, you just never know what will provoke people.
Clarissa's Blog 
Everybody’s got a cell phone. Cell phones die and must be recharged. This is a fact of life. Why does it make them uncomfortable? Does the charging of laptops make them equally uncomfortable? If not, what’s special about phones? This is so strange.
I’ve Googled, but the only thing I’ve been able to come up with is news about a man charged and uncharged with “abstracting electricity” on a London train because he charged his phone in an outlet labeled “for cleaning use only.”
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There was a cluster of six outlets located quite high on the wall. The place looked very much like a charging station, so I thought it was OK to charge.
This goes to show that even the seemingly similar foreign countries are still very different.
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In many ways, I find Canada MORE foreign than countries which are far more culturally and linguistically different from Britain, because the little jolts of difference are so startling… (I’ve spent less time in the US, but I somehow expect that to be alien)
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Canada is very special, that’s true. I once went to Halifax and was weirded out at every turn.
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Man arrested after charging Iphone on London Overground train
Some people really will charge their phone anywhere
Honestly, the only places I would even start charging my phone in public would be at places like Starbuck’s or Panera Bread which encourage people to sit down and use their wi-fi and have a bunch of outlets. Or the airport.
People with phones who charge cell phones at retail outlets generally buy nothing, and suck up electricity, while people who use the wi-fi are more likely to buy something, so the thinking goes. Further people can lock their laptops down but there’s no way to lock your phone down so people don’t lift it. So the retailer either has someone huddling by an outlet or someone who expects you to watch their cell phone while they wander around.
I googled Selfridge and cell phone charging booth and nothing pops up like an old school telephone booth. It’s something like this:
Chargebox,
Brightbox
Basically these are pay lockers in which you can keep your cell phone and charge it. I’ve never seen one of these in the US.
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Ok, at least I wasn’t arrested, although the store workers behaved as if they were about to summon a bobby.
London is very similar to back home, so I behave automatically and then people look at me all weird.
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“People with phones who charge cell phones at retail outlets generally buy nothing, and suck up electricity, while people who use the wi-fi are more likely to buy something, so the thinking goes. Further people can lock their laptops down but there’s no way to lock your phone down so people don’t lift it. So the retailer either has someone huddling by an outlet or someone who expects you to watch their cell phone while they wander around.”
-This still doesn’t explain the awkward uncomfortable reaction that Clarissa describes. Plenty of people use their phone for internet access rather than dragging around a laptop, and people tend to stay by or on their phones while charging. And how many people do you see in public carrying around or using a computer lock? They’re kind of cumbersome and they’re not infallible. If I’m moving around, the laptop stays in my backpack.
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They really flipped out. I don’t know, maybe there was a story that preceded all this. Maybe somebody had left their phone charging there and it got stolen. And maybe the workers are terrified this would happen again and they will be blamed. That’s the only narrative I could come up with to explain the weird reaction.
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This still doesn’t explain the awkward uncomfortable reaction that Clarissa describes. Plenty of people use their phone for internet access rather than dragging around a laptop, and people tend to stay by or on their phones while charging. And how many people do you see in public carrying around or using a computer lock? They’re kind of cumbersome and they’re not infallible. If I’m moving around, the laptop stays in my backpack.</i.
All true. I carry my laptop lock anyways so I can go to the restroom without unplugging and powering down my laptop and taking it with me. Smart people stay by their phones while they’re charging. You’d be surprised at the number of blithe idiots who do not stay by their phones and seem to expect shopkeepers to watch their things while they browse or go next door. Otherwise why would people put up signs saying that they’re not responsible if your stuff is lost or stolen? I don’t really use my laptop in public much anymore.
Maybe they were embarrassed about pissing off a nice seeming customer who violated a social norm that’s a little unclear? After all, she didn’t just leave to find an outlet. She continued browsing after she removed her charger. I don’t know.
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Yes, I think they were embarrassed about telling me to stop. Although I wasn’t offended or anything. If I can’t charge, that’s fine. I’m not the kind of person to get all mean to people if they say I can’t do something.
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