Just read this post from Tara about her license plates getting stolen.
I have decided that things being stolen or people being "bamboozled" is something that I have just ZERO patience with. And I want you all to help me feel better.
When someone steals something or takes something or takes advantage of someone, it is wrong on so many levels. Not only have you deprived them financially, you have then cost them TIME (which for many people is even more precious than money.)
Our bike, as I talked about in this previous post was recently stolen. This made me so angry that I couldn't sleep! The biggest frustration to me was that NO ONE locks their bikes around here. I mean, NO ONE! Bikes just don't get stolen. Do they? We also were tricked by a tour guide in Ephesus. I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe I misunderstood that it was 60lira TOTAL instead of 60lira per hour. But if I must be honest with myself, I think that is just naive. The guy KNEW what he was doing. And the cab driver who stole $110TL from Ryan in Istanbul! Disgusting!
And as for bikes? Well apparently, they do just get stolen on a Base with more security than the Pentagon. We called the police department on Base who informed us that they have found bikes being resold in the Alley outside of Base. They are often thrown over a fence surrounding the Base in a spot where there isn't a snyper hanging out in a hidden spot and then picked up and resold. No doubt this is what happend to our bike. The Base is too small for someone to attempt to just steal it and use it ON the Base. I know I will never see it again.
I, too, Joy, tried to think positively at first. Maybe it was just a misunderstanding. Maybe they relocated it. I even asked one of the officers is this was standard practice. It was not. It was just plain stolen.
It is always so hard for me to believe that someone can purposely take advantage of someone else. I remember a previous post on Tara's blog about how she and her fiancee' cut their "vacation" in India short because of the constant "being taken advantage of." Being abused for your kindness (or failure to think something bad COULD happen) is just plain stinky! Tara, I would leave early too. There is nothing worse than feeling this way even once on a trip. But constantly? I would be going out of my mind!
I feel for old people who lose their savings to people who "bamboozle" them. How do these people live with themselves? I think I am more forgiving of nearly every other sin known to man than that of stealing, unlawfully persuading, and taking advantage of someone. Con-artists, you better watch out for me!
My parents have been robbed twice in their lifetime. The second time, the man had the audacity to rifle through my dad's pants pockets NEXT to his bed. My dad woke up, found him, and then chased him down the street.
What the cab driver did to Ryan and our tour guide did to us on our past trips is inexcusable! Ugh! And, I pity the cab driver who ever tries that on me or someone else in my party again.
So, I thought we could all make each other feel better by helping each other realize that we are not the only ones who have been stolen from, tricked, conned etc. Would you help ME feel better and help Tara feel better by sharing your story?
5 comments:
When I was 21 yrs old, I went to Cancun, Mexico with a couple of friends. The travel agent advised us to bring along $1 bills to use for tips at restaurants, taxi's etc... I had $50 ones in a rubber band in my suitcase under my bed (you probably know where this is going). The 2nd day there - Gone! Obviously the housekeeper, or someone with access to our room. I told the manager, who had very little sympathy for me and tried to insinuate it could be my friends. My first dose of life's realities!! Actually 2nd, haha! When I was a teen, I worked in a dry cleaner's alone. A sweet little old lady came in to pick up her order. She gave me a $10 bill, I gave her the change. She said, "no, I gave you a $20". I said very politely, no, I'm sorry you gave me a $10 (I was 100% sure of this). She was very upset, so I counted out my register drawer and sure enough she had given me a $10! She became so angry with me and started screaming at me that I would never amount to anything! I was a no good lazy ##! etc... THAT was my wake up call to the REAL world out there!
Linda
We drove to Tulsa to visit the aquarium with our boys. It was when they were at the age where you ask yourself if the work is worth the trip. It was the middle of summer and super hot, which is why we chose to go to the indoor aquarium. When everyone reached their breaking point and we decided to leave for our 1hr 15 min drive back home, we found our driver's side window has been smashed in. Our dual dvd players stollen (with the library dvd in it - which they made us pay for even though we had a police report), the diaper bag was stollen which, like any mom, had my wallet in it and their sippy cups (since we brought juice boxes in with us for our lunch).
Brought the boys back inside to sit and wait while they cried and cried, and my husband dealt with the police and to get the glass cleaned up (which some had gotten into the car seat behind the driver's seat).
Not only did we not have the money to deal with all this since he was in graduate school, but we DID have to pay for it all! It was cheaper to pay out of pocket than our deductible.
We had to pay for:
New Window
Diaper Bag
Library DVD
Driver's license replacement (yup they charged for it!)
Police Report (since we did not live in OK, but AR)
New DVD players
lost all my cash
lost many hours trying to get new copies of stuff, report stuff stollen, and find the TIME with three toddlers to go and do what I had to in person.
Needless to say it was QUITE frustrating and felt like we were violated!!! I mean, could they not SEEE three toddler car seats in our van and realize MAYBE they could skip us that we had enough to deal with??!!
That is my story :)
oh, and we had NO WINDOW for the VERY LOUD, and VERY HOOOOTTT drive home!
Since it was so loud, NONE of the boys took a nap either.
I hate to say I had become numb to this, but in a few short years I had it happen so many times that it was beginning to feel routine. My first apartment was burgled...a year later to the day it was burgled again (same MO/same perp). Same apt building, I had laundry in 2 washers - obviously someone was in a big hurry so they stole my clothes & put their clothes in...never saw the clothes again. I was raised in a small mountain town in Colorado so the first burglary was a "fluke" in my book. The second burglary was a HUGE insult and scared me worse that the first one because it was the same person. The feeling of someone rifling through your personal belongings and then helping themselves the second time around was a much stronger personal offense. A couple of years later, someone broke into our van and tried to steal the "burglar proof" stereo system - wrecked the dash good but didn't get it!
Thank God I was insured each time! All I could do was pray for the perps...and moved up 2 flights so that nobody cold break in through my windows!
I was so naive the first time that when I arrived at my apt with my roommate beside me, we went to open the door to go in & the chain lock was locked. I had left the windows open for it was a beautiful spring day so I assumed the wind had blown so hard that the chain locked on its own. Now...a neighbor upstairs came down with a thumb tack and a rubber band to "pop the chain" in less than 10 seconds! How's that for feeling secure with a chain lock?
I'm so sorry about your experiences. While losing your belongings and money is definitely an insult, thank God nobody has been hurt in the process! I've had to take the stance that "it is just stuff" while "at least we weren't injured"! Lynda
Thanks for the sympathy and support! You hit the nail on the head that it is partly the TIME thing that make this stuff such an issue for me. As well as the horrid dishonesty of it all.
Post a Comment