Tuesday, 06 January 2009
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Pickpocketing-Gypsies in Europe
by Anne
I was a mere 2-weeks into my study abroad program in Madrid when a gypsy decided that I was an easy target (and boy was I) to pickpocket.
When I realized the reality of the situation, panic must have shown all over my face. I must have seemed bewildered and confused. "It was a gypsy," someone near me said to me as if it was a common everyday thing. Nevermind that I was utterly devastated. That's when I accepted the fact that I'd been the target of a pickpocket. And a damn good one at that. I mean, that thief managed to unzip my backpack and retrieve a wallet that was jammed in between books... without me ever detecting a thing!
If this has happened to you, don't worry, it happens to the best of us. I felt like an idiot for a long while. But the next few weeks when six others, including our teacher, was pickpocketed, I didn't feel as bad.
I first realized I'd been robbed when I reached to open my backpack and saw that it was open! I mean, the zipper was fully opened all the way. I still didn't assume the worst. I reached into my backpack and felt that my books were still there, so was my camera.
And then it hit me, the only thing missing was my wallet! How could someone do this without me having a single clue? Man, these thieves are good.
That's not the worst of it. Just that morning, I went and cashed in all of my traveler's checks. All gone. Just like that.
Keep in mind, I'd only been there two weeks so I was foolish enough to go to a policeman and think that he could help me. His face showed that he felt bad for me, but he just couldn't help. If you become a victim of a pickpocket in Europe, it's basically your fault.
These gypsies are good hence their reputation as being "The King of Thieves." Below is a photo of what a typical gypsy family would look like.
I was warned, I was, but I didn't listen. Like most others, I thought I was invincible. "This can't happen to me," I thought. "No way!" But it did. I learned my lesson and I wasn't pickpocketed for the remainder of my stay and I've never been pickpocketed since.
There are many sites online that give you tips on how to avoid being the target of a pickpocket, but here are a few tips from my own personal experience.
- NEVER cash in all your traveler's checks at once.
I cannot believe I did this. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. It still irks me to this day how moronic it was of me to do this. I repeat... do not EVER cash in all your traveler's checks at once. They have no way of reimbursing you if your cash is stolen. If you don't cash them in, you can still get your money. Never carry your passport in your backpack or purse!
I can't stress this enough. Get a moneypouch and keep it on your body at all times. One smart thing I did was to keep my passport on my person. It's much better to lose money than the only document that can prove you're an american. Trust me on this one.After my brush with the gypsy, I learned to wear my backpack as a frontpack.
That's right, I wore my backpack in the front--that way I could keep my eye on my pack at all times. I got this tip from a Japanese exchange student I met while in Spain. He was pickpocketed and this helped keep him from falling victim again. And when traveling, I purchased a small over-the-shoulder purse that I could pull to the front.Try not to be too trusting.
I know as traveling tourists or foreigners, we like to be friendly, but keep a close eye out. There were quite a few times a gypsy would come up to me asking for directions and I'd notice a friend of his coming behind me so I just walked off. Another time a kid walked up to me with a sign begging for money, while her hand was underneath the sign trying to get into my purse.Be extra careful in crowded areas.
Gypsies love these areas. It's easy for them to come up real close to you without being detected. I'm guessing this is why everytime I'm on a crowded bus, the bus driver stops and asks any gypsies on the bus to leave if they're aboard.
Have you been to Europe? Have you ever been the victim of a pickpocket?
- NEVER cash in all your traveler's checks at once.
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About the Author
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- From: anne
- Name: anne
- About Me: Age: 27, Location: New York, NY Favorite places I've visited: Trick question! I've been to so many amazing places, but if I absolutely had to pick, I'd settle on a couple places to shorten the list. Madrid, Spain because that's where I did my study abroad program when I was 18 and it was there that the travel bug bit me so hard it left a scar. I haven't been the same since. And Vietnam. That's where my family is from. Although, I'm Vietnamese American, I never actually visited Vietnam until I was 26. It was an awesome experience to learn about my family's history and I was quite pleased to show off my vietnamese language skills to the locals. It's quite a big deal for an american-born.
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Comments (40)
I haven't been to Europe yet, but I've had my wallet stolen. It was really annoying and depressing.
You people are so f-ing stupid and annoying in trying to be
politically correct. I hate people like you. You're the reason why we
have such strict censorship in America. Stop being so easily offended,
morons.
Referring to Romas as Gypsies is the same thing as
calling an African American person black or calling a Caucasian person
white. Same freakin' thing. And to the person who said that calling
someone gypsy is like calling someone a "nigger", you obviously are not
black...excuse me, African American.
Sympathetic as I am with your plight, your stress of the ethnic group of the pickpocket is unwarranted. The Rom, Gypsies or Travellers are no more thieves than anyone else.
@LapetitteLC@xanga - haha yeah! That's it! (y)
I live in Europe and can't deny in Italy there are many pickpockets, especially in the main cities but this post sounds so stupid! (altough it's a kind of good message)
My mom is in Russia right now. And yesterday she called us and said that a gypsy stole her wallet. She didn't notice it but some people watching the security tape saw it and told my mom she had been pick pocketed.
Luckily enough they arrested the gypsy and my mom got her Marc Jacobs wallet back which I bought her for christmas for about €550! Thank God, otherwise I would have gone crazy, that's alot of money for me you know!
I went to Spain and France for two weeks with people from my school nearly five years ago, and fortunately, I had no real problems. The teachers sponsoring the tour really warned us about pickpocketing and all that, and made sure we had certain types of purses so that we could avoid problems.
What I saw was the people coming up to you with signs or directions - that happened to me a couple times (at the Eiffel Tower to me, and another from my group on the metro, from what I remember) but fortunately we had been warned and just turned them away.
When I was in Paris, I kept everything attached to me. I would only carry a small side bag that I could keep in front of me, and of course my important stuff was tucked away beneath my clothes. I didn't believe when people told me how terrible the pickpocketing is in some places until I saw it first hand. We were walking across a bridge that was packed with people, and I saw a guy walking towards us, reach his hand out, and grab a wad of cash right out of a guys pocket without the guy having half a clue. Crazy stuff x.x
I prepared for this in advance when I went to Japan by carrying only a shoulder bag that I swung around to the front and kept my hands on at nearly all times. Though, I've never actually heard of anyone being pick pocketed there, I imagine it happens, what with all the crowds.
I wanna be a gypsy when I grow up x)
My family and some family friends were touring Sevilla, Spain during some festival which I cannot remember now. A group of well-dressed - take note, WELL-DRESSED people surrounded my sister and I. Two men and two women. They were crowding us in an already crowded street. Naturally, I tried to walk faster to get out of the crowd of well-dressed people. My mom saw this and told us in English, '___, be careful.' They dropped back.
Later, my mom told me that they heard one of them say that they should call off the plan since my mom was onto them. WELL-DRESSED PICKPOCKETS!
My sister and I already learned a long time ago to wear out backpacks as frontpacks so nothing was stolen. A friend of the family found that her shoulder bag was slashed but nothing was stolen from it.
So remember, boys and girls: Not all pickpockets are raggedy-looking. They can even have their hair done at salons where you only dream to go!
@Lordv16@xanga - genius! I will definitely use that one!
Thank god I haven't but I remember when I was younger my mother my sister and I all went to Italy for a couple days and the first thing she said to me is that there are gymsys every where, after that my eyes never left her purse. I was glued to it. Last thing I wanted was to be stuck without my passport.
Poor Gypsies.
They are called Roma not gypsy. And labelling them all thieves is like saying all Americans are stupid. (Ok, that might be a bad example.)
People forget that stereotypes and prejudice are there for a reason. Because they are TRUE :)
Perhaps and of course not in all cases, but in more than some, otherwise these would not be alive.
Or, to put it more fair: not every gypsy steals, as not every nigger robbs you. But nobody LIKES nigger, and nobody LIKES gypsies (except some naive wannabe gooddoing lefties).
Saying that, I make a big difference between a nigger and a black person, as between a gypsy and a ..well..you see the point? :D
A lot of them DO look like on the picture, but dont be fooled, if they are clever they will blend in much better into metro crowd or tourists of course, a pickpocket that is spotted by stereotype in a second want have a good chance to get to work of course :)