The good news: my knee is still doing fine!
The bad news started on this exact intersection 4 years ago (on Ted’s birthday!), when a pocket thief stole my wallet out of my zipped crossbody bag despite Ted standing right next to me, on my right side where the bag was facing. When crossing this intersection, we had to stop in the middle to wait for the green light. Once we were across the street, my wallet was gone; my bag zipper closed again.
Damage: blue wallet, credit card, debit card, €300, my German drivers license (which cannot be replaced) 😖
So today we took the tram to downtown Athens, when 5 or 6 big tall guys with black puffer jackets entered the tram together with us. You have to validate your ticket upon entering and they all created this commotion when I realized that my purse’s zipper was open and my notebook was missing. I immediately knew what was going on and shouted out that my notebook was stolen. I tried to shout to Ted that he should check his things, check his wallet, passport, everything, but those guys blocked me from Ted. I was furious and those guys all of a sudden “found” my notebook. Then Ted realized that his passport and his wallet were stolen out of the front pocket of his jeans and he started to make a fuzz and got loud as well. Suddenly those guys “found” the passport and the wallet on the floor as well. I told Ted to check his credit cards and those guys got all agitated and aggressive that we accused them of theft. Peter started to argue with them, and they got cold feet. They quickly got out at the next station and disappeared. Then Ted realized that his credit card was taken out of his wallet and was gone. Along with those guys. This whole thing took only a few minutes, a lot of emotions and accusations were exchanged and fortunately we got everything back except Ted’s credit card. One phone call later that problem was resolved. We were very lucky, but traumatized! I was so sure that the way I wear my bag was foolproof. But I was wrong! And Ted’s jeans pocket? His front jeans pocket?!?
Damage: credit card 😵💫 and mentally traumatized!