It happens, and it can to anyone. There are some students on the trip that are walking around completely drunk and completely vulnerable to getting their things stolen and I've heard stories already of it almost happening to many of them. But here's the thing. It could also happen to one of the most paranoid of people who take precautions like making ten copies of everything and constantly backing up photos when given the chance, burying the important things under papers and sweaters in a bag in which the zippers hug my body, and bringing more than enough locks just in case. It happens when you least expect it, too. Like when you are in the middle of taking pictures. Sometimes its just one person, but most of the time, its a team. There is the one who does the stealing and the distracters. For example, one person will physically take the thing out of your hand and run with it across the intersection when there are cars coming past and the only way that he gets away with it is because he has two friends block the victims' path to allow the thief to effectively disappear. There are other stories that I've heard. Women do it, men do it, sometimes there are entire families where children are involved or grandfathers. I've heard of children playing in parks while their fathers circle for easy access goods. There are many stories of pickpockets on trains and bars where there is constant jostling. So, here are things to keep in mind and tips for the aftermath: * Remember that most important documents have contingency plans in the event that something exactly like this were to happen. * For phones: Cancel your plan, immediately. * For passports: go directly to or call the nearest embassy of your home country. * For credit/debit cards: call banks and card companies immediately to void all transactions * Remember that most things are replaceable and that its going to be okay. I can understand desperation and I know that many must go to extremes to support themselves and their families. But there is such a sense of morality that I think is missing. I wonder if pickpockets and thieves ever feel guilty. I wonder why they do the things that they do. I wonder if they think of how devastated their victims are when they know they've lost something--sometimes even memories--or how they can completely ruin someone's day by doing what they do. There is a part of me that is angry, but as a sociologist, I find myself thinking of the situations that people find themselves in and if it is a case of poverty, then fine. I hope that whatever revenue that was obtained helped feed a family in need. Maybe I just can't completely understand because I've never been there. Everything happens for a reason and sometimes the reason is to teach us lessons. So here what I'm choosing to take away from this event: I am incredibly privileged. Maybe I do come from a working class socioeconomic status and maybe I joke about being poor quite often, but I am still fed, clothed and housed, loved and supported. I am incredibly lucky to have been born in a wealthy country to a hardworking family who taught me morals and values that will take me to the end of time. I have not known desperation to the extent that many people have and I hope I never will. I am choosing to take away gratitude for all these things and the fact that it was just a replaceable phone and it wasn't any worse than that. I am also choosing to take away understanding. It is easy to demonize these people without knowing where they come from or how they have to live. Maybe I am naive in thinking that the people are essentially good, but I hope its the kind of naivety that I never lose because it constantly helps me to be empathetic and loving to all people.