Hey Readers! Have you ever been a victim of pickpocketing in a major city? I sure hope not, because it sucks. Recently, and by recently I mean yesterday evening I had my phone stolen. It was taken out of my backpack, and yes I know I shouldn't have had it in there to begin with, but I always assumed I'd feel someone grab it if this were to happen. Unfortunately, the thief was slick. -It Was A Busy Evening... All I wanted to do was visit a local café no further than 10 minutes walking from my apartment. So I did just that. I grabbed my favorite leather backpack (that I bought in Florence, Italy precovid) and began my journey there. On this day it was particularly busy outside due to what I assume to be the long weekend. This meant students were out and about grabbing drinks and hanging out with friends. Usually, this walk to the café isn't this crowded, but I did notice that there were A LOT of people outdoors. I was annoyed, but didn't feel less safe than normal. Can I Get That To Go? Upon arrival to the café, I sized up all the desserts and decided upon a chocolate cake. I then took off my backpack and searched for my coin purse. I found it right where I always keep it. I asked for a to-go box and went along my merry way. Nothing about my backpack looked suspicious. That was because I was still safe then. I decided then that I didn't want to go straight home. I headed towards the metro right by my house, and yes this walk there was just as crowded. The Moment Of Truth As I hopped onto the escalator heading inside the metro station I discovered my backpack was COMPLETELY unzippered! It wasn't unzipped when I went to pay for my chocolate cake. Someone must have opened it and reached in while I was walking home. Panicked, I rummaged inside my backpack to check if anything was missing. My phone wasn't there. I checked every pocket, unzipped every zipper and nothing. It was gone. I had my iPad in my hands and noticed it wasn't connected to my phone hotspot which I generally turn on when I go out and about. That's when it truly sank it that my phone was taken. I felt poorly, not for me but for my boyfriend who had given me this phone as a burner phone while I saved up for a new one. He had given me this phone while in France because my personal phone had broken during my time in Paris. Some History Let me tell you about this sentimental piece of technology. This, Samsung Galaxy 2 Grand Blue phone had originally belonged to my boyfriend who was gifted it in 2014. He used it up until 2016, and then later passed it alone to his mom to it until she got a new phone. It was then in the summer of 2020 that he decided to essentially gift it to me until I got a new phone. This phone had history, a lengthy one! Being a big Apple consumer, getting accustomed to an android took a while. To be honest, I hardly used this phone and it primarily served as a hotspot for me to be able to enjoy my new iPad that was gifted to me by my au pair host family from my days in Paris. Lucky me, I know. I couldn't help but feel concerned for all the personal information that could be retrieved through my phone. I acted fast and ran to the nearest Orange store (my phone provider) and made a duplicate SIM card so my old phone wouldn't be able serve out its calling or texting functions. This gave me a bit of relief. In addition, I then made sure to change all my passwords on all major platforms I use. In The End In the end, I was a bit sadden that my phone was stolen. Mostly because my boyfriend had gifted it to me to use while I saved up for my new phone. I do have a new phone. I had to buy my phone a month earlier than anticipated, but it all worked out. I will now NEVER ever put my phone in my backpack, and make sure to keep all precious items close to me when out and about. Maybe I was getting too comfortable in Madrid, and subsequently I had something taken from me. Lesson learned. The joke is on the guy who took my phone though because it was an old relic on the verge of death. The battery always fell out causing it to restart at all times of the day. It had an awful battery life, overheated easily, minimal storage and worked in French. Although my boyfriend had kindly changed the language setting to English, it never worked in English and instead autocorrected all my words into French and served out all functions in French as well. Have you ever had anything stolen from you? Let me know in the comments
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