Iphone 4: Snatched!!!
I am writing this incident to make the people become more aware, conscious and vigilant especially when riding public mass transportation.
Last Tuesday, April 17, 2012, I decided to get NBI clearance as part of the pre-employment requirements. Of course, my ever loving and helpful husband acccompanied me. We first went to the Alabang branch and arrived at around 9 AM. We were told that they already had their cut-off. The guard suggested that we go back at around 11 PM to get a number so that we will have my clearance processed the following day. I really wanted to have my clearance on that day because there are still other requirements that I did to do the following day. Thus, we decided to go to the main branch at UN avenue.
We decided to park at the mall in Makati, ride the MRT then LRT to go to NBI head office. We thought that it was the fastest way to go there. Besides, we do not know if we will be able to find a decent parking space in UN avenue. We were able to reach NBI at around 11 AM, just in time before their cut off at 12 noon. I was able to finish at 230 PM though I was not able to get my clearance... (hope to find time to blog about that too).
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Anyway, we were back at the LRT station at around 4 PM. Since it is already rush hour, people are starting to come in. We had to forego 2 LRT coaches since it was too crowded already. I told Gerard that we should really try to squeeze ourselves in the large crowd so that we can have some space in the next coach. So while we are trying to squeeze our way in, I saw a man who handed a cellphone to a guy at our back. I already knew that he was a snatcher. And when we were finally inside, one man went out and shouted that his cellphone was snatched! Gerard then checked and realized that his Iphone 4 was also gone!
It was so unfortunate that he became a victim of pickpocket. We cannot do anything but of course I have a lot of "what ifs" in my mind...
1) What if I shouted "Snatcher!" Will it make a difference? Will there be any people who will care about it? I realized that maybe if I shouted, we might even be harmed.
2) What if I told Gerard to move back and just wait for another train? Again, I do not know if it will make a difference because we do not know if at the time I saw the man handed off a cellphone, his cellphone might also be gone already. We might also be cornered by the snatchers if we stayed in the station.
3) What if we went out also and ran to the person who said that his cellphone was snatched? It might also be dangerous because we are not sure if he was a victim or he was one of the snatchers. It might be just a distraction.
As I mentioned, we cannot do anything. It happened already. We lost a cellphone but we gained a lot from the experience.
Allow me to share some of our learnings:
1) If possible, do not try to squeeze in crowded places... try to avoid them.
2) Keep your valuables in secured places. Note that Gerard's cellphone was placed in his front pocket. So that means it is not advisable to put it there.
3) Be vigilant. Always. Anytime. Anywhere.
Despite of everything that happened, we still consider it as a blessing since we only lost a cellphone. We managed to go home, unscathed.
Thank God.
i actually had my phone robbed too --- i was with my friends who are all sporting their iPhone. Walking behind them, the robbers might have thought mine's an iPhone too, lo and behold they robbed me of a Sony Ericsson W200 manufactured way back 2006.
ReplyDeletei lost it in Baguio.
Too bad you also lost your phone... but thanks for leaving a comment and visiting my blog. This just shows that we really have to be vigilant anytime and anywhere... as you have mentioned that you lost your phone in Baguio.
DeleteHanggang ngayon nangyayari pa rin yong mga ganyang eksena. If not LRT or MRT. Bus naman yong trip nilang sakyan. Iipitin ka at magmamadali silang baba.
ReplyDeleteHay oo Nga... Nangyayari pa din Talaga... Actually kahit yung maid mg sister Ko, kinuha cellphone niya habang nagtetext siya... Isang officemate Ko naman nakuhaan din ng phone sa jeep... Anyway thanks for the comment... Talagang Dapat maging extra careful tayo...
ReplyDelete