...is what the two guys who robbed me must still be thinking right now.
As well as all the teachers whose classes I come into. And my roommate. And the people who work at SFR and sold me a second phone in two weeks.
Either way, yesterday was quite possibly my worst day here. While using the wireless Internet at McDonald's and talking to my mom on Skype, two men kept trying to sell me newspapers and shoved them in my face and kept saying things to me in an accent I couldn't understand. I tried to ignore them because if I grabbed the paper, they'd start asking for money. So I put my arm over my backpack -- luckily, I just put my wallet AND PASSPORT in it two seconds earlier -- and tried to make it really obvious I was having a conversation in English with someone else. The first continued to throw the paper in my face and reached for me, so I took it and violently shoved it back at him. That was probably my mistake right there. If I hadn't been so rude, perhaps I'd still have a phone.
After he left, another man came and did the same thing with the other guy standing near the door. It wasn't until I went to look for my phone to see what time Sarah was coming that I realized they'd swiped it and were no longer in the building. And then I realized my phone was at the end of the table and not in my bag before they approached me, so it very quickly and discreetly could have been stolen. Of course they used the exterior stairwell, so no one ever saw them. Except for two boys, who described them as speaking like this, "ba ba la ba ba," and wearing a turban. That they were not, but you get the idea.
Then my stomach started churning and I was freaking out. When Sarah finally arrived I was totally frazzled and couldn't pay attention to anything. And I feel so bad, because as we were leaving, another man of North African descent was standing near our table and I was worried he'd do something to us. Actually he was just waiting for the outlet, but of course now I'm going to be a little wary of everyone. Later when I went home, I couldn't eat, had the worst stomach ache I've had in a long time, and tossed and turned for a few minutes in bed. Then I took some Tylenol PM and passed the F out.
It was a good thing and a bad thing at once. Yeah I probably lost about 90 Euros during the theft, but I've learned a VERY important lesson. No more keeping anything out of my bag or in reachable distance to anyone else. I'm always going to have all my belongings very close to me.
Second lesson, never use public wi-fi ports again! Luckily I finally got my computer to work on our internet network here, so that should NEVER again be a problem.
It's not the end of the world. I have a cooler new phone. I wasn't hurt at all. I'm so lucky that I just put my wallet away and my credit cards, money, PASSPORT, etc. are still intact and with me.
Worse things could have befallen me that day. And I'm still alive to tell the story. Tomorrow I'll talk about my first and second days of teaching, because this is about all I have the energy to share for now.
As well as all the teachers whose classes I come into. And my roommate. And the people who work at SFR and sold me a second phone in two weeks.
Either way, yesterday was quite possibly my worst day here. While using the wireless Internet at McDonald's and talking to my mom on Skype, two men kept trying to sell me newspapers and shoved them in my face and kept saying things to me in an accent I couldn't understand. I tried to ignore them because if I grabbed the paper, they'd start asking for money. So I put my arm over my backpack -- luckily, I just put my wallet AND PASSPORT in it two seconds earlier -- and tried to make it really obvious I was having a conversation in English with someone else. The first continued to throw the paper in my face and reached for me, so I took it and violently shoved it back at him. That was probably my mistake right there. If I hadn't been so rude, perhaps I'd still have a phone.
After he left, another man came and did the same thing with the other guy standing near the door. It wasn't until I went to look for my phone to see what time Sarah was coming that I realized they'd swiped it and were no longer in the building. And then I realized my phone was at the end of the table and not in my bag before they approached me, so it very quickly and discreetly could have been stolen. Of course they used the exterior stairwell, so no one ever saw them. Except for two boys, who described them as speaking like this, "ba ba la ba ba," and wearing a turban. That they were not, but you get the idea.
Then my stomach started churning and I was freaking out. When Sarah finally arrived I was totally frazzled and couldn't pay attention to anything. And I feel so bad, because as we were leaving, another man of North African descent was standing near our table and I was worried he'd do something to us. Actually he was just waiting for the outlet, but of course now I'm going to be a little wary of everyone. Later when I went home, I couldn't eat, had the worst stomach ache I've had in a long time, and tossed and turned for a few minutes in bed. Then I took some Tylenol PM and passed the F out.
It was a good thing and a bad thing at once. Yeah I probably lost about 90 Euros during the theft, but I've learned a VERY important lesson. No more keeping anything out of my bag or in reachable distance to anyone else. I'm always going to have all my belongings very close to me.
Second lesson, never use public wi-fi ports again! Luckily I finally got my computer to work on our internet network here, so that should NEVER again be a problem.
It's not the end of the world. I have a cooler new phone. I wasn't hurt at all. I'm so lucky that I just put my wallet away and my credit cards, money, PASSPORT, etc. are still intact and with me.
Worse things could have befallen me that day. And I'm still alive to tell the story. Tomorrow I'll talk about my first and second days of teaching, because this is about all I have the energy to share for now.
2 comments:
Aw Monique I'm so sorry! What is with newpspaper people? I hope the rest of your week goes better girl :)
wow Monique, that is such a classic, that hustle! It brings back memories . .. When I made my first visit to Paris, I arrived with a bunch of hiking gear like the suburban dolt I was, and that included a day-glo orange belt pouch that was supposed to be for trail food but which became my passport and money holder. Outside a Paris Metro station a ragged family came up to me holding a cardboard sign with writing on it. They held it flat so that the edge poked into my stomach, and badgered me to read it, which I did. I then said that I couldn't give them any money. They thanked me politely and went away. About two minutes later I realized that my bag now lacked both passport and traveller's checks. (I couldn't keep anything in my hotel room, since the room was less safe than a Metro station.) The sign was just a distraction, and I was supposed to be irritated by the way it was sticking into me so I wouldn't notice what they were doing in my pockets.
I asked a Metro clerk if he'd seen them, he pointed, I ran after them, and said they really needed to help me "find" my passport and money, otherwise I was stranded and really screwed. I ended up offering them $100 in cash if they found my stuff for me. They agreed, and we played a little game where I waited and then they led me to a pile behind a trash can where rejoiced together to see my passport and traveller's checks lying there where I'd "dropped" them.
Anyway it didn't matter whether you were rude or not - the whole thing was a diversion. If you feel like it you should tell the cops and/or the McDo manager, since they should run those guys out of there so they don't prey on busy people like you, Smart Foreign Girl!
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