I travel alone a lot, very much so! I’m not afraid to wander around on my own, but I consider myself cautious: I don’t venture into sketchy areas.
I’ve always praised London for the fact that I’ve consistently felt safe here. I’m talking about tourist areas, of course, not God-knows-what rough neighborhoods. I’ve seen surveillance cameras everywhere, police presence, no people trying to hassle you, so I’ve always felt fine here – unlike Paris, for example, where I’ve often felt a sense of insecurity.
LONDON
Two years ago, for the first time in London I witnessed a cyclist snatching a passerby’s phone right out of their hand, in broad daylight, on the famous shopping street Oxford Street. The victim started shouting, but who on earth would think to “trip” a guy on a bike who was pedaling away like his life depended on it?! For me, it was something new and, I admit, it planted a seed of fear. Since then, I’ve been more careful with my phone and my camera. Since then, I’ve also started seeing all kinds of hooded cyclists on Instagram, grabbing phones from pedestrians in London. I don’t like this! Because I’m starting not to feel about this place the way I used to in previous years.
SMARTPHONE ACCESSORIES – LONG LIVE THEM!
Purely for convenience, I’ve been carrying my phone on a crossbody strap for years. It keeps both my hands free – and more than once, it’s saved my phone from smashing onto the asphalt when I caught it at the very last second.
In parts of Asia, I discovered that this whole smartphone accessories thing is a real industry!
In Hong Kong, what I liked the most was how colorful and cheerful people make their phones – from cases you wouldn’t even imagine, to colorful straps, little toys, or even special mini pouches for phones. I got myself some too – I mean, I couldn’t possibly miss the chance to fool around a bit, but also not the chance to buy a strap that cost about six times less than one bought in Italy.
Alright, now let’s get back to today’s London.
I’ve just happily made it through New Year’s Eve, where I did NOT see the famous fireworks 🙂 – an experience you can read about here – and I’m excited to be heading to a neighborhood I’ve only been to once before, many years ago. A neighborhood I’d learned back then was the place to be, ultra-cool – Shoreditch.
This time, I didn’t plan to return for a walk, but because I’d booked a lunch reservation to eat a… schnitzel 🙂 (My God, and it all started from a post that, in my case, not only caught my eye, but also tickled my taste buds!)
It’s true, we’re talking about a schnitzel the size of a house, which went viral…
A schnitzel made from various animals and “accessorized” with all kinds of extras.
“Let me try it too”, I told myself, time to shake up my routine and my neighborhood choices a bit.
I get off the tube in Shoreditch, excited to wander new streets. I check the location on my phone so I don’t wander aimlessly. Naturally, I keep my phone in my hand, following the route on Google Maps.
The strap attached to it gets in my way, so I wrap it around my hand, so it doesn’t dangle like a lemur’s tail. I do this in winter, when I’m wearing a thick jacket and it’s not really practical to wear the phone around my neck.
I remember that I still haven’t replaced this attachment, which has become pretty worn out from all the friction, even though I’ve bought several replacements from Chinese shops, some of them even metal. What’s left of it now is just a little piece of fabric, from what was once a solid, sturdy plastic accessory.
I’m almost at the restaurant now, just a few more minutes and I’ll be there.
I turn onto a street lined with houses. It’s cute, quiet. There’s no one on the sidewalks, no cars passing by, no one walking their dog, not to mention tourists…
And then… BAM, someone snatches my phone out of my hand!!!!!!!!!
I don’t know where he came from, I don’t know when, I didn’t hear him – he simply came up from behind me on a bike and grabbed it!
ONLY it didn’t work, so he takes off!
I’m still holding my phone, it didn’t even leave the palm of my hand! Basically, the strap attached to the phone through that tiny crappy piece, plus my hand gripping the phone pretty tightly, led to the failure of this robbery.
“Idiot!!!” I realize I’m yelling at him. Seriously?!? 🙂 Not even an “f&@%k you!” or at least something about his mother, Romanian-style. Nothing, man! That’s all I could manage, that’s all I yelled…
I’m not shocked at all, and I’m surprised myself that I don’t even stop – I just keep walking, following my route, as if a car had driven through a puddle next to me and splashed the tip of my boots a little. I don’t understand how on earth I’m reacting like this. Maybe because that moron failed and I still have my phone?
I get to the restaurant and what do you think I do? I don’t go in, instead, I “lie in wait” for another 10 minutes or so, just in case the thief shows up again. I remembered he wasn’t dressed head-to-toe in black, like many I’ve seen online, but was wearing a light-colored knitted winter hat.
Well, me being completely off my rocker – what the hell would I have done if I’d actually seen him ride by on his bike?! Especially since I don’t even know how to fight. If only I did, I could’ve at least landed a couple of punches to his face and a kick to some sensitive areas, cause a proper scene in the neighborhood.
You can imagine that, in the hours that followed, my brain started processing… And I realized that, given how much random stuff I film on the streets all the time, this was the exact moment when I didn’t have the reflex to hit record, especially since I already had my phone in my hand! It drives me crazy!!! (Although, honestly, I’m not sure what good it would’ve done…)
After this experience, I would kindly like to request lessons in swearing – in Romanian and English, at the very least. I’d say French too, but in Paris I was robbed in the metro by some… Romanians. You can read that story here.
