A few months ago, one of my friends went to have dinner in a restaurant in London. As always, she carefully placed her handbag by the wall, under the table by her feet. Now that should be fine right?
Wrong. Ten minutes later the bag was gone and no one had been seen passing the table. Fully suited and booted, she proceeded to check all the bins in the neighbourhood. (I know what you’re thinking: if it wasn’t so bad it’d be funny.) Nothing there, so off home to change the locks, cancel the credit cards and the mobile phone, and call the police. In that order. The bobby was very nice and took a report over the phone, then proceeded to make sure she had indeed called the locksmith and was safely at home. Total damage restricted to a £50 phone bill, £300 for the new locks and a wounded ego. Few weeks later, the police called her back to say they were closing the case, and needless to say she’s never gone back to the restaurant.
Fast forward a few months and I found myself in DC deciding where to go for dinner. I finally settled on a bar/restaurant attached to a bookshop just off DuPont. Brilliant choice, specifically since I was on my own and it’s so much easier to sit at a bar pretending to read a book while watching the world go by. I got my book out of my bag, closed it up and put the strap around my leg. (Having one purse stolen a few years ago was more than enough to my liking.) Another diner came in, let’s call her M, sat down two stools away from me, and proceeded to put her purse on the floor. This obviously was none of my business, but it did briefly cross my mind that it was not particularly sensible. Another single diner comes in - we’ll call him T - obviously looking for a bit of company in a strange city, and started a conversation with M and myself. All great fun and we proceed to discuss all the main taboos of bar conversation, including politics and religion. Another few drinks later M, decided to call it a day. She reached for her purse which is no longer there. No one had seen it happen. The police were called and she wasn't allowed to leave until they had spoken with her. They were nice enough, really, but certainly not to be messed with and in a way very authoritative. The bar staff were brilliant and gave all the support she needed, but then started beating themselves up about not having warned her. Apparently they stopped warning people a long time ago since so many customers would get snooty and they would lose their tips.
Even more recently, I was gallivanting around the Middle East and came across multiple instances of expensive handbags sitting open on tables. Phones, money, passports and everything else you may expect to find in a handbag on full display, but no owner in sight. It made me think. Nine out of ten times, these bags sit there untouched until the owner shows up, or are returned to them fully intact. Perhaps this whole naming and shaming in the local newspapers with full names and pictures - as they still do around that part of the world - has some advantages.
Well, that and, of course, the fact that the likelihood of being caught is very high and the punishments are, to use an understatement, very harsh.
Fast forward a few months and I found myself in DC deciding where to go for dinner. I finally settled on a bar/restaurant attached to a bookshop just off DuPont. Brilliant choice, specifically since I was on my own and it’s so much easier to sit at a bar pretending to read a book while watching the world go by. I got my book out of my bag, closed it up and put the strap around my leg. (Having one purse stolen a few years ago was more than enough to my liking.) Another diner came in, let’s call her M, sat down two stools away from me, and proceeded to put her purse on the floor. This obviously was none of my business, but it did briefly cross my mind that it was not particularly sensible. Another single diner comes in - we’ll call him T - obviously looking for a bit of company in a strange city, and started a conversation with M and myself. All great fun and we proceed to discuss all the main taboos of bar conversation, including politics and religion. Another few drinks later M, decided to call it a day. She reached for her purse which is no longer there. No one had seen it happen. The police were called and she wasn't allowed to leave until they had spoken with her. They were nice enough, really, but certainly not to be messed with and in a way very authoritative. The bar staff were brilliant and gave all the support she needed, but then started beating themselves up about not having warned her. Apparently they stopped warning people a long time ago since so many customers would get snooty and they would lose their tips.
Even more recently, I was gallivanting around the Middle East and came across multiple instances of expensive handbags sitting open on tables. Phones, money, passports and everything else you may expect to find in a handbag on full display, but no owner in sight. It made me think. Nine out of ten times, these bags sit there untouched until the owner shows up, or are returned to them fully intact. Perhaps this whole naming and shaming in the local newspapers with full names and pictures - as they still do around that part of the world - has some advantages.
Well, that and, of course, the fact that the likelihood of being caught is very high and the punishments are, to use an understatement, very harsh.
From: http://life.hereisthecity.com/
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