The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Things were going so well.  A new internship, 

new view from the HMS President

  a happening social life, positive feedback on my first papers and dissertation idea- and then Friday happened. Let’s begin with the bad, shall we?

My wallet was stolen by a professional pickpocket in a London pub.  I was at Trafalgar Square for my friend Jon’s birthday, and my bag was attached to me the whole night. After meeting some lovely new folks and indulging in some rose wine, I was ready to kick off the weekend and meet Kat at Tiger Tiger. As I reached in my bag to deposit my phone, I noticed my wallet wasn’t in its usual compartment. It wasn’t in the bag at all. Having just purchased a drink some time ago, I didn’t think it was really missing. I checked the bar- not there. Then the manager informed me, after viewing cctv footage, that I was, in fact, pickpocketed and “never even saw the guy, never even felt him put his hand in the bag. He was just too good.”

Well, that certainly made me feel better.  Now we come to the ugly. I wanted to see this guy’s face since they had a clear shot of him. They wouldn’t let me.  “You messed with the WRONG BITCH!”  I deserve to see this man’s face, because should I ever run into him again, I can administer my own brand of justice- the Mucciarelli smackdown.  Amused, the manager told me that was EXACTLY why I couldn’t see the footage.   I was livid and intent on letting the whole place know what kind of shenanigans had just been pulled. So they called the police. By the time I got back to the table, the IPhone gang I was with had pulled up a bunch of numbers for me to call and cancel my credit cards. Cancel I did- Amex, my Commerce debit, and my Barclays debit. Fun fun.  I also lost my NJ driver’s license, which sucks because that means the little weasel who stole my things has ALL my info- height, weight, dob, eye color, hair color, previous address, etc.  I’m SO CREEPED OUT. 

The rest of Friday night was spent at Charing Cross police station, whereupon I realized that mongrel also made off with a FULL NERO CARD.  As my blood boiled beyond the point of comprehension, I thoroughly accounted the incident to the officer who typed out my info at a snail-like pace.  I feel so violated.  I have trouble sleeping at night, and I have no idea if there was anything in that wallet that had my current address on it.  I’m so annoyed, I was ready to straighten out the finances and get on a plane back to the US.  I’m just so exhausted.

The guy can keep the 30 quid he got from me. I loved that wallet.  It has been through 4 countries with me.  I cannot replace that.  The lackadaisical attitude of the London police was beyond grating, so I told them their disregard for such crimes is exactly why they continue.

Then… it started to snow. And it still hasn’t stopped.  

snowball fight in front of Willow House!

  The city is silent; it looks like God dumped heaps of confectionary sugar all over us. I managed to charge my camera battery and take some video and photos, now if only I could figure out how to upload this stuff onto my computer I could share it with everyone. 

Kat and I on the fountain behind Grove House

Here’s hoping by Wednesday public transport will be up and running again and I’ll be able to go to my new job on the Victoria Embankment, just a few minutes’ walk from St. Paul’s and my old stomping grounds in Farringdon. I’ll be writing web content and press cues for this new startup company on the HMS President. So I’ll be sitting on a boat, on the Thames, looking out at Parliament, Big Ben, and the Eye.  I can’t lie – thieves aside, this really is the good life.

 

I would so love to beat that guy down though.  OH man I’m such an angry little girl.

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