Why Invest on a Wallet to Thwart Pickpockets

First things first, pickpockets are bad, and mean and they don’t seem to get scared even when people try to look tough.

But boarding a jeepney or a public bus or going anywhere public with an eye-catching Louis Vuitton bag or a brand new blackberry is foolish.

Hello.. ang sama na kaya ng mundo ngayon. Tsk tsk. Having realized that, I immediately bought my peppermint spray (read: Pepper Smith) that I hope can help me in desperate times which I equally hope would not happen.

iProtect -- Self Protection Pepper Spray

Here’s why I decided to finally buy Pepper Smith (read on for a looonnngggg account of a nakakapraning jeepney experience):

It was April 9, a holiday, I and my three other brother and sisters decided to watch Clash of the Titans.

At two in the afternoon we left the house and boarded a jeep. I sat in the driver’s side of the jeep with my little sister in my left and my little brother in my right. Our older sister’s opposite us. Before us there were four or five other passengers in the jeep.

In front of our subdivision’s nearby drug store, several men came in. With the rush of these many individuals, my sister took the seat next to my little sister, so now all of us are sitting side by side.

One guy sat beside my little brother. Three sat in front of us: one in glasses (this one sat in front of me), one in jacket (in front of my little brother) and beside him, the third one, sat beside a lady teen passenger wearing ruffled floral blouse and jeans. A fifth guy came in who’s much younger than the others. He’s carrying siomai in one hand and a glass of sago in the other. He was about to sit at the front, but the guy with the glasses said, “Meron pa dito oh.” So the siomai guy entered the jeep and sat at the very end, in front of my older sister. He put the glass of sago which is full up to the brim in the floor and looked at my sisters and said, “Kain!” I worried it will spill any time and my two sisters too since they said they were staring at the sago most of the jeepney ride.

Looking at them, there’s no reason to think they all know each other, they paid their fare separately and didn’t talk to each other at all. But I have a bad feeling that afternoon. And my suspicions were indeed fueled by their next actions:

It started when the guy beside my brother touched the shoulder of the girl in front of him, the girl with the floral blouse. He said a taong grasa touched it and when he opened his hand, there was a sticky, transparent fluid all right. Again, I was annoyed by how easily he reached out his hand for the girl’s shoulder, I felt like she was harassed. And besides, this was like a minute after they came in, the only time a taong grasa could have touched the girl is when they arrived at the jeep and there is no taong grasa in front of our subdivision. I commute every day for work and I’ve seen nada! And besides, looking at the transparent fluid in the guy’s hand, he can’t cup that fluid in his hand from the girl’s blouse, and I hadn’t seen any indication that the blouse was recently wet.

So I was angry for the girl because she looked so innocent as this guy and the guy beside her caress her shoulder and back to remove (daw) whatever the taong grasa supposedly soiled. I was looking intently to see if they’re both trying to steal something from her but the guy in front of my brother, he was staring at me. I was scared that I cut my gaze. The guy beside my brother, the one with the sticky hand, asked the driver for a basahan. He reached out his hand which is in front of me then, and I was staring at it for fear that he might touch my legs or something.

And then, I heard loads of coins fell on the floor. I was confused whom the coins came from, I suspected it was the guy in front of me because he was trying to pick those up. He was coaxing me and my sister to pick the other coins too but we didn’t budge. And he said: “Pulutin nio, walang piso kung walang bente-singko.”

As he said that, I looked at him and smiled. I figured I was very nervous at that time that I smile to hide my increasing anxiety. It was confusing, too many things happening at once: my little sister bent trying to pick coins on the floor, two men touching the teen girl (oh, I really felt sorry for her), cars and other jeepneys were honking in the background and too many thoughts running in my head.

I was thinking of what might happen next, that they will shout “holdup!" and I will be forced to surrender my purse with my cellphone in hand. I remembered I just bought my cellphone last December and --- I just wanted to stop the crazy thoughts.

I shouted “Para” to the driver, who looked at me so intently it was freaking. And alas, we all left the scary jeepney.

The day went on and we watched Clash of the Titans where I secretly wished I have Medusa in hand when I board that scary jeep, and the bad guys would all just turn into stones.

But of course, I will never get hold of Medusa so I did the next best thing I can think of, buy a pepper mint spray.

With security as my current goal, I would like my Pepper Smith to have a partner for promoting everyday safety and that is:

The Slingsafe 200 Anti-Theft Sling Purse from Pacsafe

It has 4 anti-theft features, a slashguard in front panel and a slashproof adjustable shoulder strap which is great for my commute to work.

So join me in promoting security products for safer and more relaxed everyday trips.

This is my entry to the out of town blog contest.