Little birdie in the sky,
Dropped some whitewash in my eye.
Wait–it wasn’t bird poop! It was a clever phone stealing scam!
Yes, I lost my phone on my last day in Santiago, stolen, in spite of having it in my front pocket. I was in a crowded area in Santiago, Chile, near a famous landmark I really didn’t care about. I was the target of clever thieves, not a monk parakeet.
This is how the scheme went down.
I my way to see more birds, when walking under a tree, I felt a SPLAT! on my shoulder. Yech! The guy behind me pointed up as if a bird had mighty aim. He didn’t look like a thief, not that I know what a thief looks like, but as I started to wipe off whatever splatted me, my hands, well, were not guarding my pocket. I guess that’s when he took my phone.
I didn’t realize my phone was missing for a few more moments as all I was concerned was washing off whatever it was on my shoulder. I didn’t want to bring bird pooh flu home as a souvenir.
Other than getting a few UBER deliveries and a Xiaomi phone with a cracked screen and Thai operating system, the thieves got my collection of ebooks, which, after spending a few years in China (a country with lax copyright laws), well, let’s just say it rivaled the inventory of a Barnes and Nobles. Plus, I loss access to WeChat, the gateway to all of my friends who are still behind the Great Wall.
Oh well.
I can’t complain considering the devastation of loss in California with the apocalyptic fires . I lost a few books and pictures. Thousands lost their homes, photo albums, grandmother’s quilts, favorite pillows, Barbie dolls, hope chests, wedding China, charger cables, tax records, and daily normalcy. My prayers to you.
And prayers to the birds of the Amazon, like the flocks of parakeets invading cities like Santiago and Buenos Aires. They are becoming the new pigeon, thanks to deforestation.
Advice for travelers? Remove your bank app before you travel. Also, duct tape your phone to your hand anywhere in South America, short of Ushaia. Penguins are not known to be pick pockets.