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One of the offices at my previous job is situated on rue de Dunkerque, about 150m from the main Gare du Nord entrance. My boss and the CEO (who was in Milan) we

by slau 11y ago

One of the offices at my previous job is situated on rue de Dunkerque, about 150m from the main Gare du Nord entrance. My boss and the CEO (who was in Milan) were on the phone, while my boss, using the headphones, was walking towards the metro station. My boss was monologuing about some issue in production, went through the security gates, kept monologuing until he reached one of the trains, and told the CEO that he was about to get on a train and the communication would probably drop out. It's only then that he realised that he was talking to himself. He searched through his pockets but only found the end of his headphones cable, disconnected, and no phone to be found. It slowly dawned on him that his phone had been taken just before he went through the security gates. About two weeks later, the exact same thing happened, only closer to the office. His phone got stolen right from his pocket. He usually keeps his phone either in the front pockets of his trousers, or the inside pocket of his jacket. He lost 4 phones over the course of 6 months. His phones rarely reach the one-year-old status. The other end of the conversation was a bit more comical: The CEO was listening to his COO, heard some commotion, then heard someone panting and street noises, cars honking. He figured that my boss had been run-over; he usually finishes that story by concluding that, in horror, he immediately posted about the job opening on job boards.

VonGuard 11y ago
Just got back from Paris in June, and Gar du Nord is definitely rife with pickpocketers, but they are actually really easy to spot if you know what to look for. They were casing my wife and I every time we went there for a train. Right now, the big thing is to send in kids with a piece of paper, asking you to sign it and give them a donation. The kids sometimes pretend to be deaf, and they basically demand a minimum donation of 8 euros. Their piece of paper is all crumpled and filthy, but the kids usually look like normal European 8-year-old girls, often blond and cleanly dressed. However, somewhere behind these girls, probably 20 to 30 feet away, will be a handler. The few we saw were always old women who looked like Eastern European grandmothers, and were probably the "Roma" everyone likes to call out. This handler floats behind the kids and watches where phones and wallets go when they're placed back in pockets. She then drifts by if you engage the kids. The kids are the distraction, she's the pickpocket. Frankly, though, if you pay any attention at all to the areas around you at Gare du Nord, or anywhere else in Europe, it's very easy to see this stuff going down and be safe. We were warned a dozen times about theft in Europe before our lengthy trip, but really, you just have to behave as you would in Manhattan or in San Francisco. Frankly, you can lose your phone just as quickly in the Mission if you're on a busy bus and not paying attention.

by slau 11y ago

VonGuard 11y ago

Just got back from Paris in June, and Gar du Nord is definitely rife with pickpocketers, but they are actually really easy to spot if you know what to look for. They were casing my wife and I every time we went there for a train. Right now, the big thing is to send in kids with a piece of paper, asking you to sign it and give them a donation. The kids sometimes pretend to be deaf, and they basically demand a minimum donation of 8 euros. Their piece of paper is all crumpled and filthy, but the kids usually look like normal European 8-year-old girls, often blond and cleanly dressed. However, somewhere behind these girls, probably 20 to 30 feet away, will be a handler. The few we saw were always old women who looked like Eastern European grandmothers, and were probably the "Roma" everyone likes to call out. This handler floats behind the kids and watches where phones and wallets go when they're placed back in pockets. She then drifts by if you engage the kids. The kids are the distraction, she's the pickpocket. Frankly, though, if you pay any attention at all to the areas around you at Gare du Nord, or anywhere else in Europe, it's very easy to see this stuff going down and be safe. We were warned a dozen times about theft in Europe before our lengthy trip, but really, you just have to behave as you would in Manhattan or in San Francisco. Frankly, you can lose your phone just as quickly in the Mission if you're on a busy bus and not paying attention.