Post
by thisisthis » Thu Mar 04, 2010 2:01 am
hola! i actually am the "victim" of this red cabbage purse snatching which my sig other (at the time), now husband (as of last week) originally posted. i just finally joined the message board, which i've been reading for a few years. even though this is an old original post, i felt i should give my point of view of the incident and address a few of the comments. oneistwo and i have been going to vallarta for about 12 years now. we love it there. we hope to continue going forever, and may retire (at least part time) there. we also love the red cabbage, have been going there for years, and love sharing it with our friends/family members who come to vallarta. i have to say at the outset that it was "my bad" to carry that much $ with me. i've never, ever done that before. BUT, that very afternoon we were walking in el centro, on the malecon, stopped in a clothing store that had an ATM. oneistwo decided to withdraw some cash, and "suggested" maybe we should take out a bit more than usual for the next day or two since ATM fees seem to be increasing. i thought why not, i know how much i'll spend over at least the next week, . . . so i withdrew $400 and put it in my fanny pack that i always have during our daytime excursions. when we were going to the red cabbage that evening, we had family joining us, i wasn't sure they were aware it was cash only, i decided i should take some extra cash just in case, so i just transferred what was in my fanny pack to my little leather Coach clutch. AND i must add here that we did not have a safe in our room. los tules only started safes in the rooms last year. AND since i never had any incidents in the past, just never thought anything would happen to that cash. SO, mea culpa, mea culpa for having THAT much cash with me. it was a first and will definitely be a last.
moving along from the amount of cash in my clutch, i'd like to address those commenters who thought we owed an apology to the red cabbage. i fully understand those who stated that it was not their fault. but i also want to say that we were no more than 20 feet away from their front door, AND these "thugs" were NOT drug addicts, bums, or whatever else you might want to call them. they were mexican teenagers, and "well dressed" teenagers (i.e., clean cut, nicely dressed teenagers, just like you might find in your US middle class suburbs). that led me to believe that they lived in the neighborhood, that they decided to engage in this activity for "fun," and that i was not their first "victim." when i took off running after them cursing them to high heaven (hey, i was po'd), i passed more than a few neighborhood people who just acted like i was invisible and that they saw/heard nothing. these boys disappeared finally into some shrubs behind some houses, and of course i wasn't going there. probably wasn't very bright to even take off after them at all. but this was the first time anything like this happened to me in PV or the US and it was kind of surreal. SO, i have to say that the red cabbage staff (they always have the young man or someone standing right outside their door to help any patrons get a cab, etc.) witnessed this. should they have called the police or done something about it? i'm not saying they should, BUT i will say (even after all this time and reliving this over and over) that they had to know these kids were doing this. i will not say that maybe they should tell their patrons not to walk down the hill to el centro because that probably wouldn't be a good thing for a PV business to tell people (don't walk because you might get mugged). bottom line: i don't think oneistwo or i owe an apology to the red cabbage. you may disagree.
also, some commenters talked about pepper spray etc. in their purse/pocket, whatever. i must emphasize that this happened in a nano-second. i began walking with a little margarita buzz after a great red cabbage dinner, looking forward to walking to the river cafe where willie and lobo (our favorites) were that night, and i felt someone just pull my clutch out from under my arm. this kid was 15 feet away from me before i even realized that my purse was gone. nobody would have time to use pepper spray or anything else in such a situation? besides, wasn't the pepper spray IN the purse they just snatched? duh!
bottom line: 1. we LOVE PV, and we're heading back down next week for our annual two weeks (hopefully to be increased over the next few/several years). 2. i won't be (didn't last year) carrying more cash than i need to dinner (honestly, i never have in the past AND i usually keep my cash in my pocket and just my girl stuff in my fanny pack or clutch or whatever). 3. love the red cabbage, but since we've been there so many times already and no new friends/family are joining us this year, i think we'll pass. it really does kind of give me a sick feeling in my gut when i relive that. 4. don't think we owe an apology to red cabbage for reasons stated above. 5. would hope that others heed the warning -- be aware at all times. even in our beloved PV. this experience was a reality check for me, and i will be extra vigilant from now on. 6. love the posts about stashing the cash in the bra thing, etc. glad some folks can have a sense of humor about such things. 7. hope to add a few intelligent, and maybe even interesting, posts in the future. 8. just had to give my point of view.