HEADS UP

My wife stopped at Handi Mail, locked the car and dashed in .... Someone popped the lock and her purse was in the wind... The Ladrons are at it again...

Try that in New York or Paris and the results will be the same..rule one never leave anything valuable or looking valuable in a car in full view ..

Really Brigitte....... so we are not living in Paradise    but in the real world

rvanparys wrote:My wife stopped at Handi Mail, locked the car and dashed in .... Someone popped the lock and her purse was in the wind... The Ladrons are at it again...

Wow! They work fast! Thanks for the warning. With the restaurant and hardware store right there nobody saw anything?

'edited below'

Brigitte is right.  Locking a car isn't enough in most places, even in small towns.  Please put valuables out of sight, either in the trunk or in the glove box.

or do not leave them in the car, these guys are probably watching anyone who parks close by and if they see you put something in the glove compartment they can go for that too. I was just talking to a woman who was robbed in a locked car in Lima. The thief came to the car and with his elbow crashed the window. She thinks they had some type of metal elbow under the shirt.They took off  with her purse . Her guards were down because the car was locked and the windows up.She was in a traffic jam in a cab so the car had nowhere to go..

Most glove compartments are already full of stuff and making the move to put the purse in the trunk would be obvious. Brigitte is right. Carry the purse with you.

It is really great to see that we have so many Capt. Obvious imitators here at Lakeside...

rvanparys wrote:It is really great to see that we have so many Capt. Obvious imitators here at Lakeside...

I suspect this post was attempting to say something....but what???

Sorry, rvanparys, if we sound heartless, we are all sorry this happened to you and your wife. It definitely sucks. Most of us on this site have lived here, or in other parts of MX, for a long time and have heard all these stories before and adjusted our behavior in order to lessen our chances of being a target or victim too.

You may have noticed all the many new starry-eyed white people bumbling their way around? This has caused the thieves to bump up their game and from all reports it must be a most lucrative game and they are very good at it.

Adjust your behavior, be safe, and enjoy your life.

TR...I don't think we're heartless, but if the victim has been here since 2015 and isn't aware of the thievery that's part of life here (and in most populated areas), it's unfortunate and it does suck. However, the obvious suggestions for avoiding robbery "obviously" were not followed, and the victim has lots of company in this.  I see men carrying their wallets in their back pants pockets all the time as well as ladies leaving their purses in their shopping carts at the grocery while they look at the shelves with their backs turned. Many more examples can be cited, and they aren't all starry eyed newcomers.

We all have moment of inattention and the thieves just wait for those.. It is unfortunate but I feel that as long as they do not hurt anyone physically we are lucky.
Thank to rvanparys for warning us they are working the area at the moment.

Another thank you to rvanparys for the warning.
On a side note, I don't leave my purse in the child's seat of the shopping cart. I put it under that in the basket and put groceries over it. Just makes it a little more difficult to get to... but I still keep an eye on it.

These cars will honk if you forget something in back seat

https://mashable.com/2018/07/31/rear-door-alert-nissan-back-seat/?utm_cid=hp-r-1#1gH3oUaLbkqL

gringal wrote:TR...I don't think we're heartless

I never said we are heartless, I said we may sound heartless. We are not a heartless group.

Sometimes good advice comes in the form of "tough love" and not sympathetic mollycoddling.
Suck it up and right the ship.
Most of all, thanks for the heads up.

Gringal, I greatly respect you and enjoy your many comments. I have been here since 1996 part time. I try to do everything you mention except with my wallet. And any time I am in the public, I get nervous and make sure one hand is swinging by my wallet, when others are near.

Where do you recommend we carry our wallets? In our front pants pocket? I know when I travel, I carry my important travel documents in my front shirt or inside suit pocket. I just make sure that I never have too much money in my wallet and carry only one of several credit cards at a time and never carry my Perm. Res card. And only one of my two drivers licenses (US or Jalisco) etc

I guess I have never heard the warning before that one should not carry their wallet in their back pockets. Only that on should be careful what they carry.

Pete, I can only tell you what my husband does as a precaution re his wallet, and so far, it's worked throughout our various foreign journeys as well as here in Lakeside.  When it's hot, he carries only the money he needs in his front side pants pocket along with keys and license.  On mild or chilly days he wears a "flak jacket" aka a fisherman's or photographer's jacket with multiple sealable pockets and carries the wallet in an inside pocket.  Since those things have many pockets, the only downside is remembering which one he has what in.  Sometimes, that gets hilarious to watch. Me, I carry my goods in a heavy crocheted shoulder bag that can't be easily sliced and it stays on my body. Since it has a drawstring opening which is part of the shoulder straps, curious hands can't slip inside.

We had our old junker car broken into, car was ugly as sin, not one centavo in it yet theives still broke the window and stole the factory radio that hadn’t worked in years. No rhyme or reason to drug fueled criminals.

Pete my husband all over Africa and India back in the 60´s and the recommendations way back then was wallet in the front pocket..of course there are exceptions.. I once had a crew of workers in a warehouse who were homeless and slept at the cine when they had money.. They would not put ther money in the front pockets as the thieves knew they had been paid when they slept at the cine and would slit their front picket with razor blades as the poor guy slept happily away..

brigitte wrote:Pete my husband all over Africa and India back in the 60´s and the recommendations way back then was wallet in the front pocket..of course there are exceptions.. I once had a crew of workers in a warehouse who were homeless and slept at the cine when they had money.. They would not put ther money in the front pockets as the thieves knew they had been paid when they slept at the cine and would slit their front picket with razor blades as the poor guy slept happily away..

Now that's really sad: thieves stealing from the poorest.

Chiropractors recommend that men should not carry their wallet in their back pocket, because it misaligns their spine when they sit down.

That will still leave a lot men carrying it in their back pocket......

"the spineless ones"......