Folks,
There is quite a bit of publicity about pickpockets around Paris generally,
and especially in Metro stations. In the Versailles chateau, they make
regular public-address announcements about it.
A little over a month ago I stayed at a hotel near the IETF venue. After a
thoroughly delightful Saturday sightseeing, I was entirely relaxed as I
arrived at the Metro next to the Palais des Congres, ready to depart early the
next morning.
I almost realized what they were doing, before they finished, but I simply was
not in the right frame of mind. A two-man team took me through a pretty good
two-phase sequence (distract me to get the wallet; then distract me while the
wallet gets away).
The experience was rather close and physical and not nearly as mystical or
detached as fantasies about smooth pickpockets tends to be. If I had been
thinking I was in a high-crime area, my mental state would have caused me to
see what was happening, soon enough to abort it.
On the web, there are jillions of pages that advise how to prevent or detect
pickpockets. They almost all use exactly the same text. Most of it is pretty
ineffective, from what I can tell. For example, they say to carry your wallet
in your front pants pocket. I did. It only slowed them down slightly.
The single most important rule does seem to be about state of mind, coupled
with the realization that *anyone* who is touching you in any way that you did
not explicitly request needs to be treated with immediate suspicion.
The other rule is to minimize the loss. Obviously that means you should carry
as little as you can. The other gimmick is to spread things around so that
the loss of any one bit of stuff will have reduced impact. For example,
luckily I had a second set of credit cards in a different pocket. On
reflection, I'd suggest having a third set back in the hotel, lest your entire
person gets cleaned out.
A hidden cache, around your waste but inside the pants, is a good place to
carry tidbits like your passport. Carry a copy of the major passport pages
for easy access and another set back in the hotel room.
--
d/
Dave Crocker
Brandenburg InternetWorking
+1.408.246.8253
dcrocker a t ...
WE'VE MOVED to: www.bbiw.net
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