gypsies, tramps and thieves

begging for money outside the Forum in Rome

Before we left for our trip over the pond I did some Internet research and came across several warnings and articles regarding gypsies and how to prevent becoming a victim of their ploys. I told Double G about the gypsies and advised him to be on the look out. He humored me as a 20 year old does with, "yes mom I 'll be careful." Jenny G and G man were warned by me as well, I received from them the same as I did from Double G. Although G man was very vocal about his doubt that gypsies really existed.

Double G went to Paris before we began our trip and reported no problems or sightings of gypsies. London for us went well. No criminal activity of any sort seen. Our first trip to the Paris metro did not go as planned. The train was idle due to "Police intervention a stop ahead". We got off the train and caught a cab to our destination.

Our second day in Paris we tried the metro again. The underground stop was crowded. When the train arrived the crowd moved towards the doors as riders wee getting off. Two teenage girls stepped off then as I was attempting to get on, they turned to get back on blocking the door and my way. I said "pardon me" 4 times before pushing my way past. G man was behind a few rows of people and finally managed to get on just as the doors were closing, Jenny G and KT got on the train before me.

G man was in a corner, I was holding onto a pole, Jenny G and KT were in seats behind me. The two teenage girls stood in front of the closed doors, the compartment was crowded but not so we were on top of each other. I noticed that the teenage girls were inching their way closer to G man. My brain began to fire up that something was familiar and not quite right. I looked at one of the girls in front of the doors and she STARED at me with her brown eyes. Her green cloth handbag clasped in front of her body with her left hand. The second girl turned her back to me and asked G man if he knew the time. My mind clicked faster, I kept looking between G man at the girl with the green handbag while he was trying to show the other girl his watch because she could not understand what he was saying. I knew something was not right but could not put it together until I saw the shoulder of the girl with the green handbag move. I knew then what was happening, and remember thinking why isn't G man getting this, why is he still showing his watch to the other girl instead of moving away?.....After the shoulder movement I flicked my eyes to my husband's waist and saw the left hand of the girl with the green handbag reaching from behind her handbag into G man's front pant pocket.

I yelled loudly "what are you doing, why do you have your hand in his pocket." Her brown eyes went wide, G man yelled "you do, you do have your hand in my pocket." Jenny G inhaled sharply and extremely loud......both gypsy girls raised their hands and shook their heads from side to side to indicate they were not doing anything. I yelled " I saw you with your hand in his pocket, I saw you, you know I did." The entire train compartment was quite, the doors opened and the girls ran out. I asked Jenny G to check the outside zipper part of my backpack and sure enough it had been opened and rifled through. Nothing of value was in it all my money, credit cards and Id were inside several zippered compartments out of pick pocketing reach. I followed the advice of the warnings and articles I read online. My backpack must have been opened when the gypsy girls blocked my way onto the train.

The other passengers went back to their conversations, G man, Jenny G, KT and I chatted excitedly amongst ourselves, reviewing the attempted pick pocket, with G man finally admitting that gypsies really do exist and that maybe me doing research does pay off.

G man was skived for a few days after, he kept going over the incident trying to figure out why he was targeted, why some gypsies steal, how old the girls were, why they were raised to be thieves, what other scams do they attempt, were other gypsies on the train watching, and many many more questions that will never get answered. He even tried to warn other Americans we met, but came off as a psycho. G man refused to use the trains after that in Paris and then in Rome. We walked and took taxis.

Whenever we saw gypsies, which are plentiful in Rome, G man would stop walking and just watch. He waved them off 2 young American girls that the gypsies tried to give roses to while we were in Rome, and lectured a woman that accepted roses while the husband was tying to make sense of the rose scam. G man the pro was in full swing at the Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps. On guard against the evil empire of thieving gypsies. Actually it was funny to watch G man the now "expert" on gypsy scams. I have several pictures of him watching the gypsies and one picture of him lecturing the American women that took the roses.

We laugh about how I reacted, Jenny G's sharp inhale of breath being her only reaction, KT not being able to do anything and G man's new found expertise of thieving gypsies. He now has an interesting story to tell anyone that will listen, with a few embellishments of his heroic deeds of trying to prevent others from being victims.

Jenny G and Gman being approached by gypsy at the Trevi Fountain

G Man watching gypsies

A gypsy at the Spanish Steps

a gypsy begging on the streets of Rome