22:30
Madrid, Spain
I skirted my first pick-pocket attempt today. Rick Steves (from the guidebooks) stresses the importance of being outgoing to enjoy your European adventure. Meeting people from other cultures and interacting with them in a non-touristy manor is a big part of his schtick. A big part of the reason I allowed myself to go against my better judgement and ask Jessica to come with me was because she's never seemed particularly shy to me. So I was bound and determined to make new friends, meet interesting people, and really enjoy this trip. Jessica did a 180 on me. She's been silent this whole trip. Whenever people talk to her, she completely ignores them. She's told me to ignore them too, and stop so much as acknowledging their presence. This is my normal state. But because of Rick, I've been trying to be more friendly. I guess I just pick the wrong people to interact with because they end up almost always being either beggars or, like this last guy, a pick-pocket.
Admittedly, this was my own fault. It was 10:30 at night, I was trying to find a ticket counter, nothing is open, the platforms are abandoned, and one guy comes up and is friendly, asking me where I'm from, where I'm going. Helps me find the gate (a gate, anyway, I didn't ever see if it was even the right one). He shakes my hand, talks about football, and starts doing some kind of jig singing something about Barcelona. It didn't occur to me what was going on until I realized his other hand was just pushing inside my pants pocket.
Now, I'm not a complete idiot. I'm wearing a money belt with most my valuables in it under my clothes. But I keep another wallet with a spare ID, my student ID, a backup debit card, and about $100 of assorted euros and dollars in it (so I don't have to undress every time I want to pay for something). In my other pocket is my iPhone--perpetually in airplane mode that I just use to take pictures, write notes, keep accounting, and write these blog posts for later posting when I have internet. Also, to keep pick-pockets from having an easy time, I have both pockets stuffed with train time tables, all different tourist maps, and other assorted directional aids. I figured that'd keep them handy, and if I'm stupid enough to let a theif's hand in my pocket, the bulk will make it more likely I can tell--and less likely he'll get anything of value.
Well, it worked. I knew instantly, and I grabbed that motherfucker's wrist. My face contorted, I was shocked and outraged, and he kept smiling, chatting like nothing happened, then tried to shake jessica's hand when I let go of him. While I had control of his wrist and other hand, I at least knew he couldn't pull a knife or anything, and I quickly considered if I should squeeze hard, shove him, hit him, throw him to the ground, yell at him, or just gently release him and walk away. Pretty quickly I realized how alone we were in that area, and he might've had a buddy or something nearby, so I thought I wouldn't do anything else stupid, so I let him go, checked to see both my wallet and iPhone were still there (they were), and got Jessica and left quickly.
-- Post From My iPhone
Location:Madrid, Spain
No comments:
Post a Comment