Thieves and Pick-Pockets

It seems that this thread has come to a halt! I thought I would just
add another angle, that of experiences with pick pockets. We have
travelled widely and have never had any problems with pick pockets until
we visited Buenos Aries. In a matter of four or five days two attempts
were made at robbing us while we were on the move.
The first instance was just after leaving the ship to walk into the
city; there was a small group of stalls selling clothes etc. and the
footpath [sidewalk?] was crowded. As I made my way through the small
crowd I felt something catch my backpack. I turned round quickly and a
young 16 - 18 year old had his arm in my backpack up to his elbow. He
immediately turned and started to walk in the opposite direction, I
called out to him to let him know I had sprung him and while I was
walking towards him he turned and started to walk menacingly towards ME!
For a split second I thought I might be in for some aggression but I
turned round and walked away from him, towards my wife who was waiting
on the fringe of the crowd.
I have no idea what happened after that because I did not look back...
The second instance was when we were walking in a small park, plenty of
people about but well spaced out, my wife was slightly ahead of me. I
was suddenly aware of a late 20 or 30 year old woman rushing towards me.
I turned towards her and she indicated that I had something wrong with
my backpack.
When I looked I had what appeared to be bird droppings all over it and
down my back. The woman was trying to wipe it off being quite insistent
that she had a tissue and she wanted to clean me up. My wife heard the
rumpus and came back to me telling the woman to go [in no uncertain
manner!]. I thought she was being rude to a helpful local but she had
realised that it was a ruse to get into my back pack while I had it on
my back and she was cleaning me up. The white substance was definitely
not bird droppings! She did not realise that my wife and I were together
and thought I was alone.

I learned from my experiences that a back pack is very vulnerable and
you should never walk alone, in both instances I was dragging some way
behind my wife.

DD


On 18/05/10 10:31 PM, John Sisker wrote:
Let's look at a different subject when it comes to a cruise or any other
vacation for that matter, and probably much more important than many of
the other issues recently brought up here. And this has to do with
thieves and pick-pockets. On our last cruise to Northern Europe and the
Baltic's, we were constantly warned by ship personnel, to be aware of
this and take extra processions. Now this is not to imply that there are
more problems in these counties, for as even the cruise line itself
pointed out, many are big cities, and therefore have mush more incidents
like this.

Therefore, what you do in particular to hopefully not be a target of
thieves and pick-pockets? Where and how do you carry your wallet and/or
purse? What do you take with you while off the ship? Have you
encountered such an incident anyway, in spit of your best intentions? I
think this would be good advice for all of us to share our most useful
advise against thieves. For example, I found airports to be just as bad,
if not worse, for this type of thing.

John Sisker - SHIP-TO-SHORE CRUISE AGENCY®
(714) 536-3850 or toll-free at (800) 724-6644 & (Agency ID: 714.536.3850)
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I asked Bob what he did and he just has his usual wallet (wrapped with
rubber bands) in his pocket but he limits the amount of money and
stuff that he has in it - he cleans the non-essential stuff out before
we leave on the trip. He carries his passport or equivalent and
that's about it. He says he's never had his pocket picked and neither
have I. My problem is not so much being robbed as losing things.

My dad was robbed once - during the Depression in the 30s, he was
driving home from work, and a big black woman with a knife jumped into
the car when it was stopped at a light and demanded his wallet.
Fortunately, he didn't carry much money with him. He was such a soft
touch for beggars that my mom only gave him enough money to buy his
lunch because otherwise he would give everything he had away. I
always keep the doors in the car locked (and also the trunk) because
of that story.

My mother lost a small change purse out of a bum bag in a semi-crowded
bookstore in Madrid - not much money - just small change. But she
really liked the purse which was small and light and had space for two
kinds of change and she had bought it in India so not much chance to
recoup.

When my grandson and I were in Barcelona (pre-cruise), he said that he
felt that there was a gang of kids in the square where we were sitting
that were thieves - he said they were pretending to be in separate
groups, but that he could see them watching/signaling to each other,
and then periodically one or more would take off running.

There are some cruise ports that are notorious for crime, and I have
been warned about possible of various kinds of crime by various people
at various times. Sometimes it is credible and sometimes not. I
talked to cruisers who were told not to venture into the back streets
of Cozumel because of the crime. I don't believe it. We've been to
Cozumel many times both by ship and by air and I do not think it is a
hotbed of crime.

There are warnings about Belize City (where I have not been although
I've been other places in Belize), Jamaica, and Mexico City (also not
visited there). I don't know about those places. There are also
warnings about Miami, Barbados, the Bahamas, Naples, St. John and St.
Thomas USVI all of which I have visited several times without a
problem. I tend think that if you pay attention to what you are doing
and take reasonable precautions that you will be OK.

As far as jewelry goes - I regard it as an attractive nuisance - a
temptation for people. Insurance is all very well for replacement
value, but it won't replace the sentimental attachment to the item
stolen. so I wouldn't wear anything or bring anything that I couldn't
bear to lose. I also think it is unfair to leave valuable small stuff
lying around in my cabin on the ship.

OTOH, I don't try to conceal my computer on the ship. I just try to
put it where it can't fall or be a tripping hazard.

I will put it into a drawer or suitcase when I go out when staying in
a motel.

On Sun, 23 May 2010 08:27:54 -0700, John Sisker wrote:

It's good to see that some are actually sticking to the subject of this
post, and not off on somewhat unrelated tangents. Learning of your
experience was what I was hoping to being forth with this subject, yet some
think they are either immune or are too smart to be the target of any thief
or pick pocket. Yea, sure! Those are in reality the easiest type targets.
Maybe now others will see the need and benefit of helping each other with a
subject like this.

Try this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22VQ4...eature=related

On Sun, 23 May 2010 16:55:43 -0400, Ari wrote:

On Sun, 23 May 2010 08:27:54 -0700, John Sisker wrote:

It's good to see that some are actually sticking to the subject of this
post, and not off on somewhat unrelated tangents. Learning of your
experience was what I was hoping to being forth with this subject, yet some
think they are either immune or are too smart to be the target of any thief
or pick pocket. Yea, sure! Those are in reality the easiest type targets.
Maybe now others will see the need and benefit of helping each other with a
subject like this.

Try this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22VQ4...eature=related

Didn't like that?

Point: All the trick whoomajooma, umbrella swinging, back pocket
hide-its and the rest of this garbage you portend is "helpful" isn't
worth crap. If you can't sense when you are going to get fleeced, then
defend yourself, you're toast.
--
Ari's Fun Times!
http://tr.im/hrFG
Motto: Run, rabbit, Run!