Unhappy Easter
My mobile phone was stolen yesterday and when I discovered this today, I was in agony. Not that I minded much being robbed of my rather crappy phone, which never works, has bad reception and has fallen to the floor more often than a binge drinker would do in his binge-drinking life; no, it was rather the thought of the hassle involved in informing everyone, buying a new phone and card, telling Barbara, etc. etc.
Well, blessed be the person's stupidity who answered the phone today upon our call, and the fact that my tears were able to soften his heart to a degree that he agreed to return it. Turns out he had bought it yesterday from 'a white couple', and that he only wanted it for his daughter. So today, a secret little mobile phone handover took place in the Dalston shopping centre, upon which I received my (now greasified, as he was eating) phone back for a ransom of 15 pounds.
He also asked me how on earth (!!) could I have let my mobile be stolen, I should be more careful! A little safety and morality lesson from someone who buys stolen phones.
But what has been really bugging me since then is the question of why on earth someone who has enough money to live in London and to party in Hoxton Square, feels the need to steal a mobile for 15 pounds. What are 15 pounds? Two margaritas, a new jangly Topshop top, a ride on the London Eye? Yeah, half an hour fun for stealing someone's connection to friends and family. Are we all so consumption-driven that we would steal for that little? And even worse, why does society punish those who were robbed by proclaiming they 'were too stupid' to watch out? I'm no goody-two-shoes either, but when I get back 10 pounds too much after changing money (as I did today) I give the extra money back, because that's the way I was brought up.
Just leaves the hope that good comes to those who do good... sigh.
Well, blessed be the person's stupidity who answered the phone today upon our call, and the fact that my tears were able to soften his heart to a degree that he agreed to return it. Turns out he had bought it yesterday from 'a white couple', and that he only wanted it for his daughter. So today, a secret little mobile phone handover took place in the Dalston shopping centre, upon which I received my (now greasified, as he was eating) phone back for a ransom of 15 pounds.
He also asked me how on earth (!!) could I have let my mobile be stolen, I should be more careful! A little safety and morality lesson from someone who buys stolen phones.
But what has been really bugging me since then is the question of why on earth someone who has enough money to live in London and to party in Hoxton Square, feels the need to steal a mobile for 15 pounds. What are 15 pounds? Two margaritas, a new jangly Topshop top, a ride on the London Eye? Yeah, half an hour fun for stealing someone's connection to friends and family. Are we all so consumption-driven that we would steal for that little? And even worse, why does society punish those who were robbed by proclaiming they 'were too stupid' to watch out? I'm no goody-two-shoes either, but when I get back 10 pounds too much after changing money (as I did today) I give the extra money back, because that's the way I was brought up.
Just leaves the hope that good comes to those who do good... sigh.
posted by copy team at 4:10 PM
5 Comments:
to be honest(ah! honest!)i think i would not have given back the 10 pounds cause i am ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh broke and, being in your situation, i would have blamed the entire planet for having stolen my phone. so i would have taken the 10 pounds as a reward - meaning i would have felt having paying just 5 pounds for the phone. life is about luck and lies. it is also a question of exchange and value. your phone suddenly costs 15 pounds. it could have been more but you dont care cause the information it contains- its value, means more for you. the extra 10 pounds change was maybe relatively ok- depending on how much you value what you bouhgt, how much you value how much the shop you bought that thing to is generally stealing your money, how much you care about the employee who will have a 10 pounds missing at the end of the day, how much you care about the good and the evil. i have no conception of whatsover dualism. bad libre-penseur i might be. i still have a dreaded D to finish writing - and an'annoted' draft by Mr.footnotes? and Ms.source? to pick up at the post office cause the tutor(s)- who sent it to me did not pay for the stamps... oh yeah... viva RCA! (i just found that the CABIN sticker Ryanair put on my bag can be slightly transformed into a RCABIN.. the RCA bin.. the Royal bin.. that's it..)
yeah.. the royal bin.
i liked how last week in the nun student residence someone explained to a chinese girl: 'This is what we call a bin. It is short for dustbin.'
RCA though is a nicer abbreviation for dustbin.
I'm broke, too... but still... I had to hand the 10 pounds back to the Kebab employee cause I just imagined how she would have to pay the balance at the end of the day from her already meagre earnings, and be called stupid for her mistake. now at least i hope for some free idealistic chips, good old idealist that i am.
first of all - what do you mean a 'white couple'? did the greasy fry stolen goods buying man attempt to suggest that because he bought his stolen phone off of a white couple is was LESS stolen than say, if he bought it off a black bachelor?
next, i am also not sure i'd have given the change back, but it would definately depend on the situation and my need to compensate myself for life's little bumps.
being a conspiracy theorist that i am, i tend to think that actually, it was greasy chip man who stole the phone, but by pretending to have baught it, he can sell it back to you without the threat of being charged. most people probably try and ring their own phone you see...
anyway, it is sad and mostly gross that people eat chips with greasy fingers and then touch other peoples phones and then expect money back and then give you a lesson in responsibility.
the think with the chips and grown-ups in this country remains a mystery.
Well, to explain: This greasy-finger guy was from Dalston, see? And yep, I think he wanted to make a point that you can trust the 'white people' to make the mistake (steal) and he was just doing the 'right thing' (buying)... for his daughter!
Well anyway, thanks to Mr. Grease, I'm getting calls from a 'Jennifer' who wants to talk to 'John'. I told her nicely but firmly that it is no longer his phone. If all goes well, she will think I am his American lover, and will give him hell when he comes home. Hah!
tell her john is in the shower!
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