Yes, People Suck Sometimes

Today was our last day in Guangzhou and what a freakin day it was.

I went with the girls (and Clay) to a spectacular market. I couldn’t believe all of the shops and the prices and such. I bought gifts, so I can’t go into more detail than that. But I was also excited to go out and buy some cute dresses and such too (so many of them).

We had to pack our suitcases and bring one down to be loaded on the truck, so I brought mine in the morning with the others, as we wouldn’t be back in time for the 5pm load-in. But at the last second, I realized I had left all of my per diem money in that suitcase. On travel days, I always carry it with me, but I keep it stored hidden in a suitcase when we are in a city. So I grabbed it (about $650US dollars worth) with the “I’ll just hold it for today” thought.

Yea…

So we are in this market in the mall, in a stall about the size of a medium bathroom, and for the first time ever, I put my bag down on the floor, essentially between my feet. But we were the only ones in the store, and it was an enclosed room. So we were examining the merchandise, and after placing my order, I got up to go out with one of our ladies and realized my bag was gone. Yup, gone. The store owner called the police, who ended up being mall security. My bag was “searched” for, but we were next to a door to the street, so… The owner said we had been the only ones in the store except for these 3 girls who walked in at one point, looked around, then left. It had to have been them, no one else except our people had entered the store.

The owners sister was very kind and walked me to the nearest police station to help me translate. WOW are they really behind on the times. No computers anywhere, they had a scanner/printer that looked to be about 30 years old, my report was hand written on a piece of paper… We filled out the report in a small room literally the size of the bathroom, and it had a cell in it, the size of a bathtub. I can’t even imagine what goes on in a place like that… It wasn’t gross or anything, just strange.

The staff man at the front door laughed at me and the translator, looked totally bored, and during the reporting, I was barely asked any questions by the interviewer… Then when the report was filled out, I had to finger print all over the document, which is apparently normal in china.

C was incredible and lent me his bag (which is the exact same bag as mine was) to show police, and lent me some money. E was spectacular and purchased my order for me until we got our next per diem. B bought me dinner and the cab ride back to the hotel.

Once I got back to the hotel, I began the long process of protecting my identity and my practically empty bank accounts. Luckily, I did NOT have my passport on me, and I had also made copies of my drivers license and credit cards. So I was able to call all of the banks and put a stop on the cards and order new ones. I contacted the DMV about my stolen DL, am waiting to hear back. I contacted the US Consulate here in Guangzhou to alert them of the DL. Mom is contacting whomever she needs to. It was all fairly easy. I also put a fraud alert on the credit bureaus, just in case.

But then, it hit me that I’m pretty sure my Ipod was in the bag. There’s a chance it’s in the suitcase on the luggage truck, but I’m about 95% sure it was in the bag. BOTH sets of glasses were on my head, so I have those. My camera was out because I was taking pictures in the store, but they did get my camera case and a memory card.

I had some business cards in there, too, so they have my cell number and email address. They also have my China cell phone, which I called. The message said that the phone was turned off (it had been at least 50% charged, so either they used it so much it died, or it was disassembled).

They got my nice travel bag, that I had bought thanks to a gift card from a relative, and my fun betty boop purse I had bought our last night in Chengdu.

My college ID was in there (darn, can’t pass for a student anymore) as was my AEA card, so I’m sure I’ll have to pay for a new one of those, some baby photos were in there, as were all of my Starbucks gift cards, which are useless in China, I know, I‘ve tried. I had a page of stamps, also useless in China. I can’t remember what else, though. I’m sure I’ll remember and want to hit my head against a wall for being so stupid when I had so much at stake.

I can’t yet think of what else may have been in the bag, but of tangible things that could be worth anything, I’d say they got a good $1000US worth.

It’s a weird feeling because it happened in China, which means a few things.
1. They are less likely to be able to do harm because they may not speak English, but it’s also China
2. China is known for it’s ability to forge, so they could do even more than someone in the US
3. My stuff is just roaming around somewhere, though it’s more likely to be lying in a ditch somewhere

I think I’m still in shock. I was so concerned about getting it all reported and trying to remember what I’ve missed that I haven’t had a chance to get upset. But I know for sure I took care of the important things. If I’m right about the Ipod, that pretty much sucks… but nothing I can do. Think pessimistically so I won’t be further disappointed if it’s not there.

I think it’ll hit on the airplane, when we are leaving Guangzhou, and I have none of that.

The credit cards, while a pain, I’m not concerned about. The same with the starbucks cards and various membership cards (only had the 2 or 3, so… left all else at home). The DL I worry about because of what someone may try with it, though they won’t get far with it, I don’t think. Not legally, anyway. The cash, that’s upsetting, a months of rent, but as the translator said, “you can make more.” and the ipod, one day when I’m not broke I can buy another one.

I think I kind of lucked out, it could have been much worse, I do think.

As I sit here writing this, I can’t help but think of the folks who had stuff stolen while on the break, and the girls who swear someone was in their room in the middle of the night in that hotel once a while ago (god that really gives me the shivers right now, for some reason).

I feel violated, but I think if this had happened in the US, it would have been very different. I think the police would have done more, though I’m not sure what, I also think the cards would have been used immediately, and my ID and membership cards could be used in a bad way. But here in china? Not so bad. They are all small enough, though, that I believe they could easily be hidden in something and sent somewhere else, maybe out of the country even, and have harm done.

People who do things like this have one of two things in mind: fast cash, or real damage. I think in this case, I hope in this case, it was fast cash.

It’s still a horrible feeling, and I can’t help but want to kick myself in the ass.

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PS I heard our new hotel in Fouzhou may not have free internet and there is not likely a starbucks with free 'net. So I may only get on one or two days while there. We'll see. But if it takes me a few days to respond to anything, you'll know why.