Things in common

A picture I shared before my phone was stolen

There's something embarrassing about being robbed. Especially when you're not aware until a couple minutes later. And after being warned by others about the frequency of pick-pocketing and purse snatching.

Seriously, shouldn't I be impervious to the common thief? Aren't my protocols and hyper-awareness sufficient to protect me?

Obviously not.

Yesterday I was catching a bus from one city in Uganda to another with some friends. We started discussing the price of our transport and, at the end of the conversation I realized that my phone and headphones had been lifted from my purse. Within a couple of minutes the phone had been turned off (no longer ringing) and it was obviously not just misplaced somewhere.

A police report and some time later I continued on my journey, frustrated and sad about the lost pictures from my phone, the difficulty of finding the same quality phone for a reasonable price, and... being a victim of theft.

And I thought about obscuring the fact from others I met in order to save face. But today I met up with some islanders studying in this city and mentioned my sad tale. And it turns out that all of them have had phones stolen at least once while living here. So we have something in common-- a respect for the Ugandan thieves! And by admitting my failure we all became closer.

Anyway, it's a sad tale. And I'll be even more careful in the future. (and I'm so thankful that theft of that sort isn't a problem on Clove Island!)