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I just lost my wallet on the way home from work

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Re: I just lost my wallet on the way home from work

#521
post #470

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mexico City is one of the safer cities in Mexico and Atlanta one of the more dangerous cities in the US. Tijuana and Acapulco, on the other hand, have a murder ten times higher than Atlanta's. Victoria, Juarez, and Irapuato have five times Atlanta's murder rate. The parent comment mentioned traveling in rural Mexico, which presumably does not refer to Mexico City. I agree that homicide rates have changed over the yea…

When I was in Mexico City (10+ years ago) every single person advised "don't get in random taxis", make sure you know one / have a driver's number. In Caracas the locals also constantly emphasized the dangers. Random airport workers would tell us to not even leave the airport unless we had a driver outside specifically waiting for us. Even on Isla Margarita locals would look at us in a panic if we were out on the str…

It's a bummer it's gone that far downhill, I'd love to go back and visit someday when it gets better. We used to take random taxis all over the place, back when all the taxis in DF were VW bugs with the front passenger seat ripped out. Never had an issue with any drivers, but I remember distinctly how the driving in the city was total madness, traffic rules and conventions we take for granted mostly ignored. I had fears about being in a crash, but no fears about being randomly mugged or killed.

I did once wonder if I was going to get hurt when I was pulled out of the audience during a circus show in Leon for the clown's knife-throwing act. I was mostly sure it'd be safe and faked and funny, but they blindfolded me and I certainly had a few thoughts run through my head about what I was thinking being in the middle of Mexico having knives thrown at me.

Re: I just lost my wallet on the way home from work

#522
post #494

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes that would be the best thing but sometimes kids aren’t wise enough. Yes they could add all your friends, but the idea is to kill their incentive. After all they’re banking on you being ashamed for their blackmail to get money from you. Those that matter don't mind and those that do don’t matter.

They would still probably send nudes to your mother out of sadistic pleasure. Sometimes people get themselves into a situation where they have no good choices to make.

So what if they do? You can't let other people dictate your emotions or they will take advantage of you any way possible. That feeling of shame and embarrassment comes from within, not from the scammer, and therefore you have power over it, not them. There's no sadistic pleasure to be had if the victim doesn't care. If the victim doesn't care, why should the scammer waste their time? But just in case they do, good thing there's that facebook feature that hides messages from obscure users. By the time someone ever finds the message, you can just say it was a deepfake.

Re: I just lost my wallet on the way home from work

#523
post #391

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just looked it up and Mexico city’s homicide rate in 2009 was half that of Atlanta, Georgia. ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_Mexico#Mexico_City ) Mexico has changed considerably in the last 30 years, and the story above sounds like it wasn’t recent. Most murders today are drug related, and crime is heavy in US border towns, but not that bad everywhere else. Thirty years ago, when I was a kid, my siblings…

Mexico City is one of the safer cities in Mexico and Atlanta one of the more dangerous cities in the US. Tijuana and Acapulco, on the other hand, have a murder ten times higher than Atlanta's. Victoria, Juarez, and Irapuato have five times Atlanta's murder rate. The parent comment mentioned traveling in rural Mexico, which presumably does not refer to Mexico City. I agree that homicide rates have changed over the yea…

The people being killed in Mexico, by and large, are not foreign travelers, they are Mexicans who are involved in drugs. Looking at the average murder rate is misleading in this context.

It's not particularly wise for a young woman to hitchhike in the US either. I certainly wouldn't recommend someone do it right now in Mexico, and I have no doubt that people here and there all have fears about it, but fears don't necessarily mean it's extraordinarily unsafe.

Re: I just lost my wallet on the way home from work

#524

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amazing, I can't even begin to understand how you reached that conclusion. Maybe you're a 4D being?

The person I was responding to said: "It only takes once, and the consequences for her would probably have been much worse." I was trying to figure out what he meant / what the assumption indicated, which I still don't understand.

They are implying that the outcome for the girl hitchhiking around Mexico could have been worse had one of the criminals or other bad actors been the one to pick her up. I believe the purpose of the story here is to warn against survivorship bias. Just because something bad doesn't happen to you when you do something risky, it does not mean that the bad thing does not or cannot happen. Someone hitchhiking solo around Mexico (or anywhere) is taking a risk of being picked up by nefarious persons and having bad things happen, such as sexual assault, kidnapping, torture, or murder. The fact that one girl did it for a month with no issue does not necessarily mean that there is no risk in doing it.

The purpose of the Oakland story is to warn that just because something bad doesn't happen, even for a long time, it does not mean that the bad thing does not happen.

Re: I just lost my wallet on the way home from work

#525
post #398

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in Sweden. Lost my wallet during my bike to work time in the morning. Not sure why it fell from my pocket, but it might because of the bumpy road due to some construction. As most of the things inside the wallet can be replaced in a couple of days (bank card, and some ID's), I did not worry that much. But, a nice guy from the neighboring office took the high road by calling the contact point of my office, whic…

When I lived in Germany, I would sometimes notice items placed up on fences, stone walls, the side of a fountain, etc. Things like keys, or a small child's toy, or a hat, for example. I asked a couple different friends about this, and they said that often when people see something that looks like it was lost, they will place it up somewhere more conspicuous right be where they found it, so that hopefully whomever los…

We do this in my Chicago neighborhood. Often it's gloves, mittens or hats, but once a big set of keys sat on my fence for a week.

Re: I just lost my wallet on the way home from work

#526

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amazing, I can't even begin to understand how you reached that conclusion. Maybe you're a 4D being?

The person I was responding to said: "It only takes once, and the consequences for her would probably have been much worse." I was trying to figure out what he meant / what the assumption indicated, which I still don't understand.

>In this manner, she traveled around Mexico for a month, and she never had a dangerous ride.

>the consequences for her would probably have been much worse

These are the two linked statements — if she had had a dangerous ride, the consequences could have been worse (abduction in a foreign country etc.) than the consequences of a mugging in your own city.

Re: I just lost my wallet on the way home from work

#527
post #371

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Long ago, I worked in a record store, and David Byrne came in to the store to shop. He was wearing a red plastic hard hat, yet gave a disparaging look to everyone who seemed to "notice" him. When he left, I discovered he had forgotten to take his credit card from the counter. I called him (we also had a video store with contact info) and he was incredibly rude and told me just to cut it up because he couldn't be both…

Oh, that's disappointing, I've always loved David Byrne :(

The problem with a forgotten credit card is that you can't be sure if it was stolen and can be cloned, so is better to dismiss it and get a new one. Maybe he had a bad morning talking with his bank about it yet so the card was useless at this time.

Re: I just lost my wallet on the way home from work

#528
post #371

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Long ago, I worked in a record store, and David Byrne came in to the store to shop. He was wearing a red plastic hard hat, yet gave a disparaging look to everyone who seemed to "notice" him. When he left, I discovered he had forgotten to take his credit card from the counter. I called him (we also had a video store with contact info) and he was incredibly rude and told me just to cut it up because he couldn't be both…

Oh, that's disappointing, I've always loved David Byrne :(

[deleted]

Re: I just lost my wallet on the way home from work

#529
post #494

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They would still probably send nudes to your mother out of sadistic pleasure. Sometimes people get themselves into a situation where they have no good choices to make.

So what if they do? You can't let other people dictate your emotions or they will take advantage of you any way possible. That feeling of shame and embarrassment comes from within, not from the scammer, and therefore you have power over it, not them. There's no sadistic pleasure to be had if the victim doesn't care. If the victim doesn't care, why should the scammer waste their time? But just in case they do, good th…

Just because it comes from within doesn't mean it's realistic to control it. People feel shame for complicated reasons, and to stop feeling shame about something would likely change parts of someone's personality. Maybe he or she thinks that only special people should see them nude? You can't just will that away. Plus, the perpetrator might be satisfied in knowing something like "now all her friends will know what a slut she is" or whatever those people tell themselves.

Re: I just lost my wallet on the way home from work

#530

In terms of the kindness of strangers, I’m reminded of a friend who decided she wanted to hitch hike around Mexico when she was 18. She was poor but she wanted adventures. She wanted to get away from the beaten path, away from tourist traps, and go out into the rural areas so she could discover what Mexico was really like. Everyone who picked her up warned her that what she was doing was very dangerous. She was lucky…

Survivor's Bias...
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