http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3224924Oh my.
greenbriar Donating Member (1000+ posts) Tue Apr-29-08 10:48 PM
Original message
Just got back from DC/NY...loved DC (except for the idiot in chief) hate NY..you can have it
Hubby got his laptop bag stolen while we were on our tour group (32 8th graders walking all over Times Square)
In that bag... which cost 150 bucks
his work laptop
his work black berry
his personal 4 gig IPOD
his high dollar prescription computer glasses
4 prescriptions
5 jump drive sticks
his key ring with both of our vehicles, house, riding lawn mower, his mom's house key and more...
the Sheridon Manhattan security team SUCKS BALLS
HEre is why it happened. We were on a school trip with World Strides. We were bussed from DC to NY and dropped off at FAO swartz. We were dropped off at 1 pm and did not see our hotel until 6pm
the bus with over 70 pieces of luggage went to the hotel and the tour people over saw our luggage all to be placed in the principals room. This was all taking place as we were walking all over 5th avenue seeing the sites.
All luggage except ONE bag were accounted for!!! and hubbys was not the only lap top bag...but an investigation is under way because they are clearly at fault...the security cameras show the bag being hand carried by our tour group leader and personally placed on the luggage cart along with 70 other pieces of luggage and taken to the elevators...after that...gone
marmar Donating Member (1000+ posts) Tue Apr-29-08 10:51 PM
Response to Original message
1. Don't let one bad experience spoil your view of the Apple. It's America's great World city. ....
..... I had my passport, 50 euros and wallet stolen in Paris.....but it's still my favorite city on this earth.
greenbriar Donating Member Tue Apr-29-08 10:52 PM
Response to Reply #1
2. well, it was also very cold and very rainy the entire 2 and 1/2 days we were there
I just didn't care for it
I am more of a MIAMI kind of gal
franksolich's rule #1741 on dealing with women: never trust a chunky middle-aged woman who calls herself a "gal."
The el finko primitive, the primitive who doesn't like small towns:
El Pinko (1000+ posts) Wed Apr-30-08 06:01 AM
Response to Reply #2
39. I lived in Miami for four years and found it to be hell on earth. NYC is great!
It's hot and humid all year long, with annoying and unpredictable rain showers all the time. Endless sprawl of ugly tacky houses. People are super mean and rude everywhere you go and of all the cities I've been to in the states, I've never seen drivers as aggresive and reckless as in Miami. They barrel down I-95 at like 95 mph, weaving through the "slow" cars going 80. We lived in Brickell - supposedly a nice neighborhood, but at most supermarkets, the staff could not English. Miami gives new meaning to brusque, callous, rude service.
We went to NYC in Sept 2002 and had such a nice time - we got out of the sweltering Miami heat, and everyone was nice. The old buildings all over Manhattan were beautiful, and all the places we visited were like an adventure. Chinatown, Battery Park, Wall St. Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Central Park, the Guggenheim. We all loved it and had a great time - the weather was perfect.
I don't know if I would want to live in NYC, but I'd definitely rather live there than Miami again, if I could afford it.
alcibiades_mystery Donating Member (1000+ posts) Tue Apr-29-08 10:53 PM
Response to Original message
3. As a born and raised New Yorker, I have one thing to say
Gahahahahaha 
Sorry. We're trained to do that. New York lesson #1: Don't put all your good shit in one bag.
NuttyFluffers (1000+ posts) Wed Apr-30-08 12:40 AM
Response to Reply #3
28. that's just street wise 101, isn't it?
eggs in one basket theory and all that. wallet in the front pockets, big bills broken into smaller ones, small sums tucked away in different hiding spots (under shoe sole, breast pocket, jacket, pants, bra, etc), purses carrying next to no valuables, dress moderate-to-poor looking, clothes covering exposed pockets, valuables divided among all carry-ons, and particularly valuable luggage never left out of your sight.
never had to grow up in NYC for that, but standard operating procedure for life in cities the world over.
nadinbrzezinski Donating Member (1000+ posts) Wed Apr-30-08 12:59 AM
Response to Reply #28
31. FUNNY, my brother in law and I went to the Anthropology museum in Mexico City
My mom gave us quite a bit of money....
I broke it up into small packets and spread it across all pockets I had on me....
Oh and left my wallet at home and only carried the necessary ID.
The Exhibition of Egyptian artifacts (Special Exhibit) was wroth it....
And we lost nothing in this experience.
We also took on the first floor of the museum and ate at the place... though the taxi home overcharged, but what can you do? An unfortunate reality is that if you stick out like a sore thumb... you have to take the safer, Tourist Taxis, and yes, you pay for that safety, whether real or otherwise... I really wasn't feeling froggy enough to test the theory and I was born in that metropolis and raised in it.
NuttyFluffers (1000+ posts) Wed Apr-30-08 05:47 AM
Response to Reply #31
36. when i go to underground parties i divide my ID from my credit cards, too
i had some friends call me paranoid, but they were from more trusting and rural areas. i hung around a lot of thieves in junior high (never really was one though -- unless taking chalk from class to go draw on concrete counts) and learned some of the simplest tricks to not be a statistic. what you suggest is absolutely true: if you want to dress to the nines and enjoy expensive things be prepared to be segregated into less crowded, more exclusive areas. otherwise you have to be prepared that some people are just going to give into temptation.
alcibiades_mystery Donating Member (1000+ posts) Wed Apr-30-08 01:46 AM
Response to Reply #28
33. You're right...I should have said
Don't leave your stacked laptop bag on the luggage cart at the Midtown Sheraton no matter what the luggage guys says.
My bad.
NuttyFluffers (1000+ posts) Wed Apr-30-08 05:58 AM
Response to Reply #33
38. that's even better direct advice. i totally agree with both things.
and it's not so much an issue of trust in the people who help you, but just a simple exercise in probability. more people, more chances someone will give into temptation and steal your shit. some of the sweetest (and painfully forthright..people i've met have been new yorkers. you can find people there to trust just as you can anywhere in this world. its just the sheer numbers of people and struggle to survive that makes cities a challenge.
that said, DC is a whole other can of worms. the tourist areas are almost devoid of anything but tourists, especially on off hours. in fact, they are almost devoid of all life after gov't office hours. and huge swaths of DC feels like small towns separated by suburbia. that's easy to suss out the dangerous spots if you are used to the suburbs. but there are definitely dangerous areas in DC; they just don't overlap or abut tourist areas as much as Manhattan. density is probably the biggest factor here. that said the worst thievery most likely belongs to DC, on K street...
nadinbrzezinski Donating Member (1000+ posts) Tue Apr-29-08 10:53 PM
Response to Original message
4. I hate to say this, but I ALWAYS carry my electronics and prescriptions myself
Why? experiences like yours that can happen about anywhere
greenbriar Donating Member (1000+ posts) Tue Apr-29-08 10:55 PM
Response to Reply #4
6. well, we were on a school tour trip and did what we were told and were assured many times, it would be very well protected.
there were 3 other laptop bags as well as over 70 pieces of luggage...what are the chances that that one bag was the only one stolen???
IT had to be someone from the Sheridon Manhattan staff that poached it!!!
nadinbrzezinski Donating Member (1000+ posts) Tue Apr-29-08 11:05 PM
Response to Reply #6
12. Not necessarily and I have been on tours as well
they can tell me whatever they want to... and give me all kinds of assurances... I still don't trust them
By the way... since they school gave you those assurances... they are liable too
It's a pretty big bonfire, and so I'll stop in mid-fire, but I was waiting for this:
rwheeler31 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Tue Apr-29-08 10:55 PM
Response to Original message
5. Can you get the meds filled quickly?
With all due apologies to those decent and civilized people here on prescription drugs, I can't help myself.
But really, it's amusing, how the primitives perceive their pharmaceuticals as the staff of life.
