A thread I recently posted on another forum, reposting the following. I wish for more responses. ----- Yesterday night whilst riding the Paris Metro with parents, my father's wallet was snatched away. Pickpocketers, believe it is a common problem in Europe; at least, in touristy areas. My mother and I had boarded the subway, my father struggled wading through the waves of people, seemed that quite a few people had been blocking his way. Struggled, but managed to board finally. An Indian lady, couldn't have been no older than 20 at the most, had been one of the few that had obstructed his path. Mother spotted this, that she was doing it deliberately- either she has keen eyes, or I am simply absentminded. Positioned herself with arms around purse, protecting from potential thievery. So the subway rattled on, this woman [apparently] reared herself behind my father, seized the wallet and sped off, subway doors shut after her. She was quick, unbelievably so. By this point in time my mother had realized what had happened, told my father to check his pocket, and sure enough the wallet was missing. Contained approximately $700, along with my father's credit card, driver's license, etc. Luckily, luckily, he had at least the sense to leave our passports in the room, otherwise we would have been screwed. All cards canceled soon as we reached the apartment. Surprised me, she didn't look a thief. Had worn a clean, white sweater. I thought her pretty. Mysterious pocket-thief woman strikes gold with him! Hit the jackpot, won the lottery. My father practically screams tourist, was such an easy target. It is ironic almost, for he had just been going on to me about how he could not possibly fall victim to the pickpocketers; had been born and raised in Macedonia, where they run rampant. He had even shown me where he kept his wallet, while we were waiting on the train! Good one, татко. :D One moment of casualness, guard down and a single slip-up led to that. Looking down at this with the bird's view, slightly detached from it all; perhaps I would have cared more if she had taken our passports, leaving us really and truly ****ed. Prodded parents for afterthoughts, asked them what they thought of pickpocketers. "Scum of the earth", they called her. Not her particularly, pickpocketers in general. I like to think the best of people, would like to think that the shewolf had some reason for going for the wallet. Hoping that she spent the money on necessities, and didn't indulge herself. Would rather not shatter my picture-perfect view, if that were the case I couldn't help but feel a tad disgusted. Or maybe she had tossed it off to others, because after all, there had been others in her near proximity. Accomplices? The wolves work in packs. Cannot help but wonder! $700 that we didn't need, if she needed it so badly then so be it. After all, was partially our fault for not keeping closer watch. This mad selflessness will kill me, I care for this stranger on a train. People can be selfish, but yet I care for them all the same. It can be problematic... this unrestrained sympathy. Before any of you say... I am naive, inexperienced, a child still. I am painfully aware of it. Tie it up and assume she had done so for a reason, would like to not believe it a whimsical decision. Good grief, I hesitate to post this thread. Would have done better as a blog, wouldn't it have... A little frightened to see the potential responses, to be honest. Wrote up a storm, had it set in mind and yet it came out half-arsed. TL;DR - Ever been pickpocketed? Any sympathy for the perpetrators? Thoughts, if any?
I've had about...three friends who were pretty damn good at pickpocketing(not sure if they actually did some real stealing though). I've even tried this myself back in highschool at least a hundred times though I did give back whatever I took because it was just fun. >> Though I guess this is really different than what you had experienced. I could think the same as you and hope that the woman had a good reason as to steal but most people just don't have much of one. There's always a more honest way to make money than to steal. In general I don't give sympathy but you can't just lump everybody who commits a crime in one corner and demonize them all. Everyone has their reasons, whether it be for fun, to make a quick buck, because they can't "help themselves", or because they actually need it that bad. I haven't had anything actually stolen from me via pickpocketing but I do know that if the person is good enough you'd never notice a thing...which is probably the scary part about it.
I've never been pickpocketed and I don't think I know anyone that has been. Mostly because I'm paranoid about my possessions being stolen and take extreme measures to insure that they don't. I have passwords on my laptops that no one in their right mind would know, for example. My wallet is on a chain attached to my pants. And considering what my non-work pants look like, they'd have to pick the right chain to even find my wallet. As for people who pickpocket, I generally tend to assume the worst of people which I guess adds in to my paranoia. My view is that humans are twisted beings who generally only look out for themselves. In my mind, that Indian woman probably did splurge that $700 on herself. Expensive clothing, fine dining, wine, who is to say what she did. Someone else might think she use that money for her kids if she had any or to pay her bills. But like I said, I assume the worst. [While I say I've never been pickpockted, my place of work has been robbed twice so I can relate somewhat to the situation. We think it was someone who was working for my family at the time. She quit under very mysterious circumstances and has not happened again since she quit and we buckled down. We're more grateful that no one was hurt when either situation occurred.]
I agree that they are scum of the earth. Regardless if you need money, it is not justified to take someone else's money. This time you didn't really need the money, but the pickpocketer didn't know that. Stealing is wrong. The only reason you would need to steal would be to survive, which means food. Then go steal some bread from a store, instead of a large amount of money from an individual.
I respect the skill of pickpocketing. It's a tough skill to master, and takes practice to learn completely. I personally have never been pickpocketed, many of my friends have been mugged for their phone or money before. ACtually, my best mate was being mugged by two big guys just a couple of streets from where he lives. Such a funny story, since my mate never swears, had just recovered from meningitis and is a constant smiler. They demanded his money and phone, he said no, one of them swung at him, he dodged down and came back up with an uppercut to his jaw. Knocked the guy clean out, whilst the other mugger ran and left his friend behind. My mate just walked back home, and called the police about the incident, but when they arrived the mugger had left. THe next day, after they must of checked hospital reports, the police called my friend to confirm the identity of the possible mugger who had been admitted with a broken, dislocated jaw which would need to be wired back on. And they caught the other mugger who was visiting, so all in all do't mess with the man with the giant grin. But, back on the topic of pickpocketing, the use of it is morally ambiguous. sometimes it is used as a livelihood, sometimes just to take get money quick. I wouldn't call them scum of the Earth, scum don't bother to learn skills to get what they want, they just mug you in the street with a knife or gun. I respect the aspect of it, but I am wary nonetheless and I would try to stop it happening, if possible. It's easier to pickpocket, undetected and unseen from a person in a large group of people with distractions going on, then to walk into a shop and attempt to steal from where people are vigilant about people who enter the shop, in a confined space where you're more easily caught. Not to mention the possibility of security cameras where you could be caught and prosecuted. If I was a pickpocket, then directly sstealing what I need would not be the best idea. And to survive you need more than food, you need shelter, warmth, water. I can't hate people for taking what they need. I will give to those desperate enough the necessities of life, but only the necessities, if they were to demand money for fruitless things then I would defend myself.
I've never been pickpocketed, but I do have a certain, if cautious, degree of sympathy for what they do. I'm sure many of them are driven to measures like that because of a lack of money. There is a lot of pressure associated with making enough money to live comfortably today; it's an amount of hard work which I think many people underestimate. That doesn't mean I condone stealing, mind you -- just the opposite in fact; I think it's a cowardly use of stealth and (admittedly, respectable) skill that could be put to good use otherwise. However, I do not think they are the 'scum of the earth' in the big scheme of things, either; I'd say that there are worse crimes (or even worse executions of the same crime -- stealing -- i.e. holding someone at gunpoint). That doesn't make it any less of a crime in and of itself -- in the end, it's still wrong to steal from others and while it may not cause immediate physical injury, losing money can still cause a lot of problems. It's also unfair -- a pickpocketer may need the cash, but what if whoever they steal from needs it just as much as they do? Even worse if the victim, despite needing money as much as the thief, has always worked for what they have honestly instead of through stealing. The best that can be done is hope that the money is put to good use -- that she needed it to live and committed the crime as a last resort -- and wasn't simply being selfish.
I agree, pick-pockets are bad people (least the ones who don't give it back) but they pick more than just pockets they can steal from purses bags even closed suitcases if they have a good enough partner and quick hands [I spend a lot of time thinking about how to be sneaky] I would definitely pick someones pocket for the thrill of doing it . . . then simply leave it where they could find it (near locker or on floor or something) There was this kid at my school who stole these little plastic things from these two little kids and he just so happened to be setting next to me wearing a big jacket. Well about 2.5 seconds from his stop I decide to try and pick his pocket, successfully too as he got up and walked off the bus. I then proceeded to give the rocks to the kids and ta-da! Pick pocket hero was born ^_^ See not all pick pocket's are bad, some do good.
Yo people, good morning to ya. I'm new around here and i figured i could drop to say hi. I'm gonna be frank with you, i'm mostly here, in this thread, to gather up some posts so i can take part in the duel arena. I thought it would be politer and far more interesting to do so by partaking in an interesting argument instead of just trolling every thread i find. So, in conclusion, here are my thoughts in the subject: One can not categorize another individual as good or evil by only taking in mind their actions against your person. While it is true that having someone commit harm upon you, such as theft, and to the people you love is amongst the most condemnable acts of humanity, there is much one must consider before judgement can be made. You must understand and/or keep in mind, that the varying circumstances that surround the said act play a rather large role in final verdict. A man who steals out of spite or greed can only be considered bad, true, but a man who steals to survive or to feed his family is walking at a match finer line between good and evil. A line, that you surely understand, can at sometimes or always be rather blurred. Considering said argument, i personaly, have come to the conclusion that the world can not be split to black and white, at least, on the subject of human intentions. Human beings are imperfect creatures and so are their thoughts and believes. For most humans, ideas are like an infinite multitude of colors randomly splashed upon an infinite and empty canvas. The result is a 'drawing' of undetermined form with all ideas or 'colors' having a great variety of shades and faucets and constantly intermixing with each other at varying degrees to form an insensible fantasia of all shapes and color that is judged and understood differently by each individual, no, even the colors used by each individual are as different as the shapes the colors form. As long as human philosophy and ideology can be assumed to take the form of this beautiful yet nonsensical chaos, completely stable ideas such as pure black or pure white cannot exist. Instead its up to each separate individual to judge according to his values and knowledge on what is bad and what is good. In conclusion, the ideas of good and evil are undetermined and flexible as well as numerous as every possible complication a situation may involve. Each of us is left to judge on his or her own what we will to consider as 'bad'. Thus is argument becomes one of opinion, not of facts...not that human's know a lot of certain facts. You won't get a determined or final answer, and frankly, you shouldn't. All you can do is hear and compile what other people say and adjust your thinking as you desire but in the end it is only what you choose as your own belief that is important. Besides, if your belief is already set, there is little another can do to change correct? I personally believe in this flexibility but choose to act on the facts that effect me and postpone the actual judgement until all the details are known, or atleast all the details that i can find and understand. If a person tries to steals from me, i'll stop him and maybe help him if he needs it, if he tries to hurt me, i'll repel him and ask why, if he tries to hurt my family, i'll break his ****ing arm. All in all, if one does not, in anyway, negatively affect my life or morals and believes, i accept him, if he does, he has every right to do so but i also have every right to break his ****ing arm. I believe that this simple solution in this world of chaotic ideas is best or at least the simplest. One has his specific responses to situations and should cultivate them, perfect them and act with them when in need. I only ask that you try for a polite and kind response before you move to the more violent and angry ones.
Well, yes pickpocketing is bad and I will admit I've done it to friends(though I give back the items). You can't blame it ocmpletely on them though. When I go to the city I am completely aware of my belongings, where they are, and the people around me, and what they are saying. For example, when I went to New York I normally keep a hawk's eye on my bag, the zipper, sounds ect. I took out money from my bag and put it in my pocket while I was looking for something. I heard a lady walking by on the phone go, "Oh my god, I think I'm seeing someone get pick pocketed." and I turned around and the guy pulled away. They're bad and what-not but it's up to you to be aware of what is going on especially when you go to tourist areas and the city or anywhere unfamiliar. When it gets crowded, like Time's Square I keep my hand on my money and other important posessions. Even when I have had someone try to get my money while I was looking at them you just stand up tall. It's really not that hard. I don't think of anything about the criminal if they did pickpocket me. Probably just some kid or someone with low self-esteem.
I wouldn't exactly call them scums. There's always a reason behind it. I mean, even people who commit murder and such have reasons. Yes, murder is a far worse crime, but there are still reasons for it. Anyway, I admit that I have sympathy for the pickpockets. However, as Star said, it doesn't make it right, no matter what the reason.
These kind of things are never right to do, no matter the reason. I do indeed feel great sympathy, though. I'm one that always thinks things through the the worst, or to make someone seem more well-natured than they should appear. For an example of my strange thought process, I'll be playing Minecraft or something, kill a pig, (I'm using the mod Baby Animals) and then see a nearby piglet. "Did I just kill it's mother?", and that sort of thing. This woman may have a reason for it, but there is always SOME kind of subconscious/conscious reason. Children may be struggling for food, she may be homeless and in need of shelter of some kind. Et cetera.
Thankfully I've never been pickpocketed. I know friends who have and I know it would hurt me deeply as I think I'm quite materialistic and can become quite attached to my things, I always try to keep my things close to me and under zip so it would be a lot harder to steal. I think that pickpocketers are really selfish, in fact most thiefs, my friend who was on holiday in a foreign country was just walking down the road when a cab stopped right by her and a guy yanked her handbag from her and drove off. The handbag contained her passport and all her money and credit cards, her friends needed to pay for her to get a new passport. It sounded horrible. I suppose I just think that it's a selfish act as they become over come with greed and the desire to have MORE things causes them to steal. However, I know this isn't always the case and to be honest I wish it never was, I know some people just need the money so desperately for food or to just live and that will drive them to do these sorts of things, which I suppose is just the cruel world we live in.
The situation you described is a mugging. Pickpocketing is the art of stealing from someone without them being aware. The two seem to be easily confused, where one is hostile the other is more stealthy.
One is done by thugs, and the other is done by people in desperation or less commonly out of a need to do something challenging. I respect the art of it as well as the fact that this world is the kind of place where some do have to do that to make a living.
Hah, it's true that Europe has a lot of pickpocket cases. Especially France. I live in Lyon, which is a city in southern France. Living in the city you know you have to keep your hands in your pockets when you ride the Metro or the Bus. I've heard a lot of stories about people getting robbed and the such. It's never happened to me thankfully >_> I'm careful like that, but it has happened to my friends lol. And it's true that they mostly target innocent tourists. Because those are the people that mostly stand out. That's not to say that France is dangerous or anything. Any Metro in any city can be filled with people like that.
I knew there was a difference I just didn't see much of a difference since they're both stealing, just ones more sneaky I suppose. With pickpocketing, I am incredibly scared of it ever happening to me as well, I usually wear tight jeans where it's hard to take thnigs out my pockets or I put them under zip still. I think it's sad that people need to do that for a living and I sure hope that whoever does it, it's only for that reason as greed is completely unexceptable.
