Public transport caution

My wife and I and two other couples arrived in Naples, where we were to spend one day prior to joining an escorted tour of southern Italy in October ’12. To pass our time, we had decided on a day trip from Naples to the island of Capri, so, after dropping our luggage off at our hotel, we boarded a busy bus that took us from the train station to the pier from which the ferry to Capri sailed.

Prior to this, we had discussed precautions against petty crime, especially pickpockets, known to be a hazard on these forms of transport. So we men all wore cargo pants with wallets in the front pockets, which were sealed with Velcro hook-and-loop fasteners, over which we placed our hands. The women had their belongings in bags slung over their shoulders and tightly clutched to their chests.

Soon after we boarded, the bus seemed to become extremely crowded so that our group was tightly compressed, unable to move from the front and surrounded by our new Italian friends.

Other passengers could not reach the ticket machine that our group found itself pressed against, so we found ourselves being handed bus tickets to punch, which meant, of course, taking our hands away from our pockets.

After about 10 minutes of traveling like this, it seemed that half of the bus passengers suddenly disembarked, including a young woman against whom I had been indelicately and involuntarily pressed. I had asked her for directions to the ferry terminal, so before leaving she helpfully reminded me that ours was the next stop.

Upon disembarking the bus, ourselves, my friend Tom immediately noticed his wallet was missing. While commiserating with him, I felt with relief that I still had mine. Judging that there was nothing we could do about it immediately, and feeling it could have been worse, we proceeded to Capri.

Approaching the office to purchase our ferry tickets, I pulled out my wallet only to discover that all my money and credit cards were missing! The wallet was not empty, however; my bank debit card, hometown transit card and California driver’s license were still in it.

Unbelievably, the clever thieves had felt comfortable taking time to peruse my wallet’s contents, removing only what they could use, then replace the wallet in my “sealed” pocket without alerting me. What cheek!

I was truly astonished by this and, since then, no tour guide or traveler I’ve spoken with can recall a similar instance of a pickpocketed wallet having been returned to the pocket from whence it came.

There are lessons to be learned from our experience. Where pickpockets are a serious concern, never carry anything valuable in an outside pocket, no matter how well the pocket is sealed. Keep valuables close to your skin, in a pouch, perhaps down the inside leg of your pants. Travel with safety and confidence.

MYRON LEE

Lafayette, CA