Hello everyone:
I had been warned about pickpockets as I prepared for my European trip this past month. I bought an across-the-body bag to use instead of my purse (it was worth its weight in gold) and a passport holder (I never used it).
What I didn’t plan for was for someone to try and snatch my cellphone (a brand-new Apple 16 phone) while I was eating lunch at a café in London. Let me tell you about it, so perhaps you can avoid such a situation.
I was sitting at the table, with my cellphone near my bowl of salad. I was chatting with my traveling companion as we ate, when a man came up on my left-hand side and started speaking to me in a low, sexy voice. I have absolutely no idea what he was saying. I don’t speak whatever his language was.
As he spoke, he dropped a piece of paper on top of my phone and then scooped it up, along with my phone while he continued to speak. I grabbed his arm and shouted, “No, you are not going to steal my cellphone.” I grabbed my phone back. He took off.
Folks told me later that “You’re an American. He didn’t expect you to fight back.”
I told them, “If I had been standing, I would have kicked him in his . . . well, never you mind.”
From that time on, I held my cellphone in my hand or kept it in my front pocket with my hand on it. When you travel, be aware and beware of folks who want something for nothing. When they get it, it means you get nothing for something.
Best,
Dr. Sheri