| On Pickpockets I stopped a guy yesterday on HuaiHai from stealing a couple's wallet by pointing at him and yelling ... loudly. I was over twenty feet away from him. He was sneaking up behind a couple and walking behind them. My yelling seemed to stop him from stealing the wallet, but had no other impact -- i.e. the couple walked on and the guy looked slightly put-off, but nothing more. What I found amazing was that it wasn't *hard* to see what he was up to and I was blazing by listening to music. Others must see it happening. Earlier in the week, some guy tried to make off with my bag, while I was eating at a fast food joint. The bag was hanging over the back of my chair. I turned, for some reason, and saw him sneaking off about fifteen feet away. I got up, yelled at him and sprinted after him. He dropped the bag and peeled off out the exit. No one said "boo" about it while it was happening (to be expected) and then gathered around to discuss, while I tried to continue eating. Both cases riled me in the moment and in both cases I wonder whether I should have tackled the guys. I think it would have been more trouble than it would have been worth. It's just shitty that no one does anything. |
The City and Its Moral Boundary