The lost art of pickpockets
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The lost art of pickpockets
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Re: The lost art of pickpockets
#2i bet the proliferation of skinny jeans is to blame. the person wearing the jeans can barely get their own hand in their pocket, how's a pickpocket supposed to do it undetected?
Re: The lost art of pickpockets
#3""It requires a certain amount of skill, finesse, cleverness, and planning, and the patience to do all that isn't there" among American young people."
So, it seems, in addition to hard science, we're getting our asses kicked in the pickpocketing area too!
Re: The lost art of pickpockets
#4i bet the proliferation of skinny jeans is to blame. the person wearing the jeans can barely get their own hand in their pocket, how's a pickpocket supposed to do it undetected?
I can confirm this first hand. Two pickpockets tried to get my stuff in Barcelona. One had his hand in my left pocket with my cell phone, the other one in the right pocket with my wallet and passport.
Sorry, folks, but my jeans pockets are like monkey traps. If you grab anything in there you won't be able to get your hand out. They pickpockets figured that out quickly and ran off without any loot. Tight jeans saved my vacation.
Re: The lost art of pickpockets
#5thanks to enhanced security features, it's harder for thieves to use stolen credit or debit cards than it was in the past.
The pickpockets just moved into technology: card skimming, phishing or general ID theft. Back in the day, you could lose your wallet, now you can get your bank account cleaned and a destroyed credit rating.
Re: The lost art of pickpockets
#6This reminded me of a nice article on the decline of burglary in the UK: http://www.economist.com/node/2709203?story_id=2709203
Except, of course, crime is only cool if you're not the victim.
Re: The lost art of pickpockets
#7>the New York Times reported that there were 23,068 reported pickpocketing incidents in the city in 1990, amounting to nearly $10 million in losses.
That's over $400 per incident. Either people carry a hell of a lot of cash on them or there are some outliers with some interesting stories to tell.
Re: The lost art of pickpockets
#8""It requires a certain amount of skill, finesse, cleverness, and planning, and the patience to do all that isn't there" among American young people." So, it seems, in addition to hard science, we're getting our asses kicked in the pickpocketing area too!
We'll have to start issuing H1 visas to import pickpockets.
Re: The lost art of pickpockets
#9I found this a very interesting read (look for responses by "pocketed" for one pickpocketer's viewpoint and strategies):
http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/bxy7x/per_request_iama...
My biggest takeaway: People do not pay attention. I was taught at a young age to pay attention to my surroundings, and I cannot help but notice how easy it is to walk normally on a sidewalk and surprise people with my presence. People are just plain distracted. In other words, for someone like this, they are easy marks, easy prey.
Re: The lost art of pickpockets
#10>the New York Times reported that there were 23,068 reported pickpocketing incidents in the city in 1990, amounting to nearly $10 million in losses. That's over $400 per incident. Either people carry a hell of a lot of cash on them or there are some outliers with some interesting stories to tell.
I imagine the pickpockets also stole watches and other valuable jewelry.