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Recently, we were at a resort in Switzerland. Arguably one of the safest countries on earth. But: as we exited the swimming pool house, our umbrella was gone. I
by geff82 3y ago
Recently, we were at a resort in Switzerland. Arguably one of the safest countries on earth. But: as we exited the swimming pool house, our umbrella was gone. I said „what an irony, the first time we have something stolen is in Switzerland“.
Two hours later, the umbrella was again where we had left it: someone must have borrowed it to protect themselves/their children from heavy rain. We understood why there were no cctvs anywhere: they were not needed.
- j7ake 3y agoThefts at train stations and bike thefts are very common in Switzerland. Japan is by far much safer than any European country.
- chrisandchris 3y agoThere's a saying that as soon as you leave your bike at a train station, it belongs to the public.
- gylterud 3y agoI usually joke, when someone has their bike stolen, that they have just gained membership in the local, involuntary bikesharing community, and thus can help themselves to a another bike from the bike parking.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- jonny_eh 3y agoJapan is quite safe, but has an organized crime problem.
- xtiansimon 3y agoWhere does ‘organized crime’ intersect with Japan society at large if theft is low in Japan? Prostitution and gambling? I’d be surprised if you said drugs, because of the slippery slopes in drug addiction.
- debtor66 3y agoYeah, Americans idealizing Euro countries or cultures, especially the nordic and germanic countries are really annoying. Please leave your bike unlocked at any major Swiss train station and see what happens. Or take a walk at night around Rosengård in Malmö and come back to tell if you actually felt safe there. It's always the same story: "I went to this upscale hotel where everyone is a wealthy tourist and travelled to the most commonly visited tourist spots and nobody stole my wallet / watch / umbrella. Amazing people." It's like those people have a psychological need for a fairytale country to exist where everyone is a "perfect" citizen and no harm has ever been done to anyone so they can daydream about living there. If you left a library unlocked in a wealthy NY or Boston neighborhood I'm sure that you'd get a pretty similar outcome like the one mentioned in the article. It's not a mystery that readers are usually domesticated and fairly educated people who won't steal books, even in the US.
- johncoltrane 3y agoWe once visited the MAMCO museum, in Geneva, all on our own, opening every door, manually turning on the lights in every room we entered, etc. I think we stayed over an hour without meeting any staff or triggering any alarm.
- yread 3y agoIt sounds a bit ambiguous, have you in the end triggered the alarm and had to run from the staff or have you made it out with your ill gotten gains?
- johncoltrane 3y agoThe largest art robbery that never was. In all seriousness, we just made our visit and left, like the people in the article. At some point we even backtracked to the entrance to check for opening hours. No one. No alarm. Only the two of us and a very nice contemporary art collection.
- k310 3y agoAnecdotal. The largest unsolved art robbery that ever was ( I think this is still true) was at the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum in Boston. Details here (Smithsonian) https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/five-things-know-about-isabella-stewart-gardner-art-heist-180977448/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/five-things-know-a... Excerpt: From start to finish, the biggest art heist in modern history lasted just 81 minutes. At 1:24 a.m. on March 18, 1990, two men dressed as police officers walked into Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. They overpowered two unsuspecting night security guards, then duct-taped their victims to a pipe and a workbench in the museum basement. “Gentlemen, this is a robbery,” the criminals announced. The pair proceeded to remove 13 treasured artworks on display in the lavishly decorated gallery, smashing the protective glass of two Rembrandt paintings and cutting the canvases from their gilded frames. Just over an hour later, the thieves made off with a staggering collection of art that’s valued today at $500 million. End excerpt. FWIW, like many things, Isabella Steward Gardner is for sale on eBay. DDG says: Isabella Stewart Gardner - Isabella Stewart Gardner Sold Direct on eBay.
- YiraldyGuber 3y ago[flagged]
- Grustaf 3y agoThe food is also very safe in Switzerland
- inglor_cz 3y agoA quarter of Swiss population is foreign-born. Not quite like NYC, but very high in international comparisons.
- mkl 3y ago29.9%: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_and_dependent_territories_by_immigrant_population https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_and_d... Among non-tiny countries, that's about 10th, between New Zealand and Australia. UAE has 87.9%! Qatar and Kuwait have a high percentage too. In terms of absolute numbers, USA has by far the most, over 50 million, and Germany and Saudi Arabia are next on 13 million.
- YiraldyGuber 3y ago[flagged]
- Grustaf 3y agoIn Japan the percentage is very low, but you can still have all the foreign food you want. Most foreigners in any country are doing other things than running restaurants, so it's pretty orthogonal.
- fomine3 3y agoHaving enough guests is important to operate restaurants, so how many foreigner exists matter for foreign food. But it works without foreigners if local people like it.
- FirmwareBurner 3y ago>We understood why there were no cctvs anywhere: they were not needed Most likely because CCTV cameras are a legal privacy concern for which you need a license so you're not allowed to install CCTV cameras everywhere you like just because you own the business. It's the same in Germany and Austria. At my local gym there's a warning at the entrance saying that there's CCTV surveillance on the property and that by entering the premises you accept their surveillance rules and they also post the authorization number for their surveillance license.
- mrtksn 3y agoIMHO the problems usually occur when people don't feel like part of the community and being at a resort in CH should probably create some kind of sense of community as wouldn't be any outsiders since everyone there will be there because they want to be there(unlike places like Airports or roadside coffees where most people will be there because they needed the services in between the places they would like to be at). Even in the most shitty neighbourhoods, the place can be quite safe for residents if there's no high churn rate.
- Foobar8568 3y agoWhen you pay $500 a night at a resort, your population is a tad different than taking the train/bus/tram. I dare you to walk in Geneva/Lausanne/Zürich with your backpack opened, hell even close and walking like a tourist. or with a short sleeve shirts and an expensive watch (read Rolex+ pricing).
- saiya-jin 3y agoI've had a digital camera returned to me, which I've forgotten in the train in Zurich. Nigh impossible back home. I've done my share back and returned wallets and iphones to police officers. Living in such good moral environment makes also newcomers better people.