brocolliandtea said:
Rather than start a new thread, I continue the theme. I was coming home on the A line this afternoon, 1am. The subway was jammed packed. If you move here, you will never have a moments peace. Its crowded everywhere, packed and polluted. Anyway, at Congresso station, someone snatched my wallet in my front pocket with my salary in it. Not a fortune, but I had gone downtown to pick it up. I feel I cant laugh it off. Its a grinding, non-ending, struggle to survive here. It will sink you like a stone should you foolishly move here. If you do, live off the success of another country and not rely on the failure of this one. Its a failed state, an embarrassment to behold!
That is just so frustrating. Sorry to hear this. (I don't think I've told this story here...) One evening I was with a British guy who needed to get to the bus station. As it was rush hour on a weekday, a taxi was very hard to get. And the buses? Ni hablar...
So, I suggested that we take the subway to Retiro. He was wearing a huge backpack because he was a backpacker, and we were both speaking English. We were easy targets; well, he was anyway. I've lived in Buenos Aires off and on over the past three years, so I've already learned the hard way. I always support myself on a bar in the subway, keep my hands in my pockets if they have anything of value, and my backpack stays in the front.
Once we got on at Sáenz Peña, some folks started pushing us around in the Subway, acting as if they were about to fall over because of the movement. It was all a con. I knew it was, and I knew something had happened. I told the British guy to check his things because I thought it was suspicious. Right as we get to the next stop, the Brit realizes that he doesn't have his wallet. Then, I looked up and looked around, and saw one of the guys who had been doing the pushing going up the escalator. He was looking
right back at us, monitoring us. (I can still remember his face.) I instantly darted for him, screaming in English initially, "Where is the wallet?!" My adrenaline was pumping because I just knew he had it. (In hindsight, this was really quite stupid. If he had had a gun, this could have ended badly...)
Once we got outside of the station, he's swearing up and down that he doesn't have it. He pulls out his shirt, and pretends that he doesn't have the wallet. I asked him to empty his pockets, and he had nothing. Essentially, there's nothing you can do. I'm sure he either handed it off to one of his accomplices or put it in his underwear. Who knows?
A few minutes later some other Argentine guy came up to me and said that the guy started running down the street, and that I should go find a policeman. I laughed and said, "What are the police going to do?"
And when you can't even trust the police to fix a problem, that's when you know you've been in poorly functioning countries for a long time. At least where I live in the United States, I would never hesitate to get a police officer if I needed help. In Argentina, Brazil, wherever else? They're probably involved in it. In fact, this was RUSH HOUR when we were on the Subway. I don't look every time, but usually there is a police officer present at most stations, no? What a coincidence that there wasn't one at Lima Station, just blocks from the Congress.
You just have to be so aware. I used to live out in Caballito (block away from Primera Junta), and I've never had any problems on Line A. But if you're not on your guard 100% of the time, they will take advantage of you.
