The Pickpocket

Last weekend, I was in Athens visiting my Fulbright colleagues.  We decided to have dinner at a restaurant called "Keyoopee".  My friend, Alan, frequented this restaurant often, and he knew the owner well.  Upon finding the restaurant, we descended down the stairs and were immediately greeted by the owner.  Besides liking the food, Alan was interested to hear the chef perform on the bouzouki, which he did in the evenings.  On this particular night, there was a party.  It appeared that it was related to a christening, because there was a little girl in a white dress who was the center of attention.  Alan and I grabbed a table for four and awaited the arrival of Stephanie and Kate.  My back was to the entrance. 

To put this story in context I need to return to my initial flight into Athens.  Once I landed, I caught a taxi to the Fulbright office.  The first thing the taxi driver told me was to be careful of pickpockets.  When I travel, I am typically vigilant about who is around me and always put my wallet in my front pocket.  If I get in a crowd, I place my right hand in my pocket and wrap my fingers around my wallet.

As I was sitting in this restaurant I felt comfortable with the surroundings.  The owner was attentive to our every need and the family and relatives of the little girl were welcoming of us.  Because no one was sitting behind me, I decided to move my wallet from my front pocket to my back pocket.  Once we left the restaurant, then I planned to return my wallet to my front pocket.  Eventually, Stephanie and Kate showed up and I became engaged in conversation with them.  After a few minutes, the owner came over to Alan and discreetly leaned down and whispered something in his ear.  Alan then leaned over to me and said that the owner wanted to warn me to be careful, because there was a man sitting behind me that he believed to be a pickpocket.  I calmly placed my right hand on my back pocket and breathed a sigh of relief, because my wallet was there.  Immediately, I moved it back to my front pocket.  Next, I turned around and discovered, indeed, there was a man sitting at the table behind me, not more than a foot or two away.  He was alone.  Not more than a minute after the owner warned Alan of my predicament, another man approached Alan and asked him to warn me to about the man sitting behind me, because he also believed he was a pickpocket.  Shortly thereafter, the man sitting behind me departed without ordering anything.

There are two reasons why I tell this story.  First, even when you are vigilant, sometimes you let down your guard.  Even in the benign setting of a child's christening party, I allowed myself to become complacent.  I will not do that again.  Second, this is not the first time that people in a foreign country have displayed concern for my well-being.  If you get to know people well enough, they will take care of you even if you do not speak the same language.  I am always thankful for these "angels" that seem to watch over me wherever I am.