Stealing back my stolen wallet

I have to give it to them; it was indeed a nice try. Had I not heard my lipgloss fall to the metro platform floor and had my lightening quick friend Maria with me my wallet would be lying in a heap with hundreds of others in some gypsy camp right about now.

This is how it went down: last night my friend Maria and I were on our way to catch the red line metro from Loreto. I pull out my wallet, tap it to the sensor at the entrance of the metro which sounds off a buzz and allows me to pass through the turnstile. I place the wallet back in my purse which is hanging over my shoulder and saunter down the stairs to the platform blabbering on with Maria about this or that. Once on the platform I hear something fall to the floor, and turn around to see my lipgloss lying there. As I reach down to pick it up Maria asks me if I have everything else from my purse, and when patted down with my hand I realize that my wallet isn’t there. Maria, who has been the unfortunate victim of several metro robbery attempts, starts telling me that the two 20-something girls who are standing beside us watching me have taken my wallet. I say to one of them, “Apri la borsa!” and she voluntarily opens her bag wide and I don’t see my turquoise blue wallet anywhere. Maria assumes the worst; that these girls quickly snagged the wallet and have already passed it off to an accomplice who made a run for it. I noticed that the girl had a second bag, under her other arm, which she was holding close to her body. I demanded that she open that one too, and went to grab it from her. As I held the straps of the purse I saw my wallet squeezed between the bag and her body. At first she tries to hide it from me but I grabbed it.

I was so pissed. But the kind of pissed where I didn’t know what to say or what to do with myself. Maria starts yelling, “POLIZIA! POLIZIA!” but to no avail: none of the onlookers on the full platform even batted an eyelash. I grabbed the arm of the girl that had taken my wallet and as soon as I did I wondered to myself what exactly I was planning to do with her. Nothing. I think I did it because when I heard Maria calling for the police that they would actually come, and I wanted to keep the girl there in case she tried to run. There were no police. No security guards. Not even an upstanding citizen who would give us a helping hand. I let go of her arm and the two girls jetted down the platform.

Frantic Jasmin and Maria ran up the stairs from the platform to talk to the metro conductor who sat in a small office up by the turnstiles. We explained what happened and he said there’s really nothing he can do about it but knows who we were referring to because they always roam that metro station stealing from people. I just find it hard to understand why they don’t just put a cop in the metro station if they know this happens! I got out of the metro at Duomo to see three vigilanza, or volunteer security officers, in the station. After telling them what had just happened to me 10 minutes previous they said they’d go over to Loreto to have a look. Too little too late guys.

I know petty thievery happens in big cities all the time (I’ve caught people stealing from others and advised the victims, much to the dislike of the thieves) and even though it’s incredibly annoying it’s almost expected. What I hadn’t counted on was the reaction of the public. No one expressed any concern or even asked if we were ok even though they had all witnessed what went down. It would have never happened in NYC! People would have made a scene, someone would have stepped in, something! Anyway it just means that I’m going to keep an extra tight watch on my stuff and watch out for others around me too. You should do the same! Be safe friends!