Motorchorros and being unlucky in Argentina
It could’ve happened to anyone, anywhere. It doesn’t matter whether you’re male, female, old or young, a victim of crime is often simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. You hear such stories everyday and it does nothing more than make you question your ever dwindling faith in humanity. I’ve had friends robbed in London, jumped at knifepoint in Manchester and I will never forget the day that thieves tried to steal my mother’s bag from right outside our very home. The point being is that it happens and I was unlucky enough to become a victim in the heart of Buenos Aires. However with fourteen months of travel under my belt, I guess it was about time that something gave me a reality check. To establish the scene for you it was a gloriously warm morning as I was walked downtown from my residence in Caballito. With its beautiful buildings, elderly, families and posh cafes it is certainly a wealthy area (the Chelsea of Buenos Aires) and remarkably safe throughout the day and at night. My morning ritual involved an hour long stroll to work, buying fresh fruit along the way and listening to what I’d chosen for today’s Spotify theme as Britpop through my headphones. The traffic lights had turned to red and as I briefly waited at a crossing I pulled out my phone to check the time. In that very same moment an unassuming motorbike with two passengers, like the million other bikes in this city, neared the pavement and I took a step back to allow more distance from the busy traffic. In less than a heartbeat and with one swift movement the bike passenger had lifted my mobile out of my hand and the pair of thieves were sped off before I even had the chance to finish the Pulp song I was enjoying. My initial, inner reaction told me that it was an accident (perhaps my better nature getting the better of me altogether) yet this quickly crumbled as I watched the bike speed off, leaving my phoneless. The pedestrians around me shook their heads, muttered something in Spanish and then continued on their lives without giving me another thought as I had no other choice but to continue walking. It was as if in a dream that I considered what I had lost in that brief second such as photographs, phone contacts, banking apps, social media and the entire management of my life from my pocket. And as the reality loomed over my morning it dawned on me that the first point of call was to quickly begin cancelling everything. My plans of a blissful morning of fruit, sunshine and music had quickly turned into sheer anger and frustration. I’d acknowledged that the phone was lost forever, of course my insurance company kindly informed me that I was not covered for theft of that nature and I was told not to bother with the Latin American police who have much larger crime to be fighting. Yet I did have a mini triumph. With modern technology being so wonderfully (and scarily) advanced, I had the power to log in through my laptop and completely render the phone useless whilst also deleting its entire contents - and even leaving a message for the phone thieves, which went along the lines of ‘You S*** B*******!). My attempt to stick two fingers up at the ‘Motochorros’ as they are known. And with that, the event quickly passed and I was left with no choice but to replace the two year old phone with a new one and continue on my journey with a little less cash. It’s a difficult situation to address. I am constantly reliving the moment over and over in my mind and of course wondering how I could’ve handled the event differently. Yet despite my regrets I was lucky that they didn’t reach for my bag, lucky that they didn’t touch me and lucky they didn’t pull out a weapon of some sort. The ordeal was so quick that my account doesn't even sound that bad, and it leaves me with the thought that events of this nature certainly happen for a reason as I now tighten my security and safety for the rest of the trip. They must’ve really needed the phone more than me. They must’ve really wanted to use my Tinder more and of course they must’ve really been looking forward to getting frustrated with how the device tended to freeze every time you did anything. Buenos Aires still remains one of the safer locations on my journey and nothing will stop me from loving this city entirely.
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Tamara DavisonNepal, China, Malaysia, Australia, Argentina. Archives
November 2017
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