Carelessness or excess of confidence?

I've had in the past the opportunity of visiting many different countries, while in the Navy, and have experienced how confident about security matters act the citizens in Europe, Japan and many small cities in the USA.

In Tokyo, as an example, when you are travelling on a train and it is rainning outside, you can take home with you, for free, any available umbrella you may need as you leave the train on any given station; everyone knows that you will carry it back to the train the next time you use it, no doubt!

In Lisboa, or Paris, etc., anyone can buy any newspaper needed from a public dispenser on a given corner by just putting the necessary coins, lifting the dispenser cover and picking your preffered newspaper and leaving the place as something so natural that no one repairs on it.

In any Starbucks Coffee restaurant all over the world you can bring in your laptop (cell phone, Palm Treo, Blackberry, etc.) with you and make use of the hotspot available in each of them for mailing, read the recent news or keep in touch with customers, classmates or friends; if you need to go to the restroom you just stand up and go, leaving your valuables at your tabletop, to come back later and continue working with them, no problem!

Well my friends, not so in Lima!!

What if here, on any public transport, there would stand, ready-to-take, umbrellas of different colors (well, in Lima it really never rains, as in Southern California!) so anyone could take them as needed as in Tokyo? In a couple of hours, all the buses would run off umbrellas forever!!

What if in Lima we could find those bright newspaper dispensers on some given corners?; it would only need some unaware buyer to put his coin in and lift its lid so to see all newspapers available being taken away in less than five minutes (with no coins left of course!!).

What if in any Starbucks Coffee shop in Lima you feel your "nature call" and decide to go to the rest room while leaving your laptop unattended for one or two minutes over your tabletop? When you come back to your table, no one would have seen anything and your laptop will be gone forever!! (I can tell this in first person, because my own guards in some Starbucks restaurants here have to provide the "security factor" necesary in order to keep all the laptops, cell phones, Palm Treos and the like, over the tabletops where their owners left them even for a few seconds away!!)

Are the cases posted just pure carelessness or an excess of confidence based on prior experience? Of course is the late. That's why I can earn my living here providing the security "cuota" (part) it is needed to "survive" here!

Welcome to my city, I'll take care of your valuables for you!!

JSR