Comments on: Why hunt thieves? http://bobarno.com/thiefhunters or, High and Dry on the Streets of Elsewhere Thu, 28 Aug 2008 08:00:26 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: Thomas Tvivlaren http://bobarno.com/thiefhunters/why-hunt-thieves/#comment-285 Thomas Tvivlaren Thu, 24 Jul 2008 19:11:51 +0000 #comment-285 I was reading through the many incidents of street crime in Barcelona outlined at "Street Scams of Barcelona" (http://www.jones.tc/barna/scams.html). It dawned on me that during my first trip I experienced a similar "legal scam" as one of the contributor's gave witness to on the site. I don't remember the name of the place but "Mickey's" does ring a bell (the name referred to on the aforementioned site). We saw all these people sitting drinking huge (I would guess maybe 1 liter sizes) glasses of OJ and ice and sat down and ordered the same. When we asked for the check it said 15 EUROS! I complained and the waiter acted like the scam artists usually do, i.e. shrug and show a face of being a little angel just having been accused of murder. I didn't settle for that though and created a scene. Actually I think the best way to handle scam artists in general is creating a scene and really make some noice to show assertiveness. It ended when I asked other people having ordered the same big glass of OJ how much they had been charged. I eventually payed 5 EUROS and walked away with a smile on my face... Remember, good manners and acting like a good citizen is not the way to handle crooks and thieves making a living on abusing just that good mannered behaviour while disrespecting your confidence. I was reading through the many incidents of street crime in Barcelona outlined at “Street Scams of Barcelona” (http://www.jones.tc/barna/scams.html). It dawned on me that during my first trip I experienced a similar “legal scam” as one of the contributor’s gave witness to on the site.

I don’t remember the name of the place but “Mickey’s” does ring a bell (the name referred to on the aforementioned site). We saw all these people sitting drinking huge (I would guess maybe 1 liter sizes) glasses of OJ and ice and sat down and ordered the same.

When we asked for the check it said 15 EUROS! I complained and the waiter acted like the scam artists usually do, i.e. shrug and show a face of being a little angel just having been accused of murder. I didn’t settle for that though and created a scene. Actually I think the best way to handle scam artists in general is creating a scene and really make some noice to show assertiveness. It ended when I asked other people having ordered the same big glass of OJ how much they had been charged. I eventually payed 5 EUROS and walked away with a smile on my face…

Remember, good manners and acting like a good citizen is not the way to handle crooks and thieves making a living on abusing just that good mannered behaviour while disrespecting your confidence.

]]> By: Thomas Tvivlaren http://bobarno.com/thiefhunters/why-hunt-thieves/#comment-283 Thomas Tvivlaren Thu, 24 Jul 2008 11:51:12 +0000 #comment-283 Very interesting blog! Besides the scam artists doing the 3-shell ("find the pea") scam at the house of parliament in Stockholm my main experiences of con artists and street criminals are related to Barcelona. I simply love the city but the street crime activities are really out of this world and something to be wary about as a tourist. My first trip to Barcelona featured a really bold bag-snatching in the Gothic area. A couple of old-aged american tourists lost a whole lot of money and it frankly pissed me off to the extent that I tried to follow the thieves. Alas, they knew the district like the as well as most tourists pockets as they simply vanished. Since then I have visited the city several times and at least something related to street crime will always appear in front of your eyes more or less obvious (for someone wary of the problem). A funny incident is that at the last trip a couple of years ago me and my spouse were ourselves victims. We went to the beach in Barceloneta and brought with us a simple tourist beach bag with some foods and - this is the funny part - the probably sweatiest gym attire in Barcelona at the time. Before going to the beach I visited a gym at Avinguda d'Icaria (if my mind is not failing me). I there had a really tough bout with the free weights which left my body sweating profusely for hours after the gym visit. My very used gym attire was worn till I reached the beach and then put in a plastic bag and eventually the recently aquired beach bag. Yes, the same beach bag the thief (supposedly a woman according to a witness) stole. I felt sorry for the theif. No, not really...but a tad. ;) Ha det! Very interesting blog! Besides the scam artists doing the 3-shell (”find the pea”) scam at the house of parliament in Stockholm my main experiences of con artists and street criminals are related to Barcelona. I simply love the city but the street crime activities are really out of this world and something to be wary about as a tourist.

My first trip to Barcelona featured a really bold bag-snatching in the Gothic area. A couple of old-aged american tourists lost a whole lot of money and it frankly pissed me off to the extent that I tried to follow the thieves. Alas, they knew the district like the as well as most tourists pockets as they simply vanished.

Since then I have visited the city several times and at least something related to street crime will always appear in front of your eyes more or less obvious (for someone wary of the problem).

A funny incident is that at the last trip a couple of years ago me and my spouse were ourselves victims. We went to the beach in Barceloneta and brought with us a simple tourist beach bag with some foods and - this is the funny part - the probably sweatiest gym attire in Barcelona at the time. Before going to the beach I visited a gym at Avinguda d’Icaria (if my mind is not failing me). I there had a really tough bout with the free weights which left my body sweating profusely for hours after the gym visit. My very used gym attire was worn till I reached the beach and then put in a plastic bag and eventually the recently aquired beach bag. Yes, the same beach bag the thief (supposedly a woman according to a witness) stole.

I felt sorry for the theif. No, not really…but a tad. ;)

Ha det!

]]> By: BJ http://bobarno.com/thiefhunters/why-hunt-thieves/#comment-184 BJ Fri, 13 Jun 2008 10:25:42 +0000 #comment-184 Would you do a comparison for me? You know the traits of a pickpocket. Now, superimpose those traits on the way Karl Rove operates. Notice the subtleties. Where pickpockets steal wallets, Karl steals away values. He is like the magician... he smiles and displays information in such a way that the public doesn't even realize that he has just lead them down the wrong path. One must be clever to be a pickpocket. In other words, there are different levels of being a pickpocket. Karl Rove is a political pickpocket. Namaste Would you do a comparison for me? You know the traits of a pickpocket. Now, superimpose those traits on the way Karl Rove operates. Notice the subtleties. Where pickpockets steal wallets, Karl steals away values. He is like the magician… he smiles and displays information in such a way that the public doesn’t even realize that he has just lead them down the wrong path. One must be clever to be a pickpocket. In other words, there are different levels of being a pickpocket. Karl Rove is a political pickpocket.
Namaste

]]> By: Rick http://bobarno.com/thiefhunters/why-hunt-thieves/#comment-7 Rick Fri, 07 Mar 2008 17:06:31 +0000 #comment-7 Great stuff, girl! If your friend wants to read Orwell every morning at the brekkers table guess what I want to do? Read this blog. It's fabulous stuff! R. Great stuff, girl! If your friend wants to read Orwell every morning at the brekkers table guess what I want to do? Read this blog. It’s fabulous stuff! R.

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