Kiev, Ukraine

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Tonight I had the pleasure of being taken for about $150.00. Here is how it went down.

This guy walks past me at a rapid pace. He reaches into his fanny pack as he is walking and drops a plastic bag with bills inside. The outside bill is one US dollar.

I see him drop his money, so I yell at him, “Hey! hey ... you dropped your money.”

Immediately, I am suspicious, because, who keeps a wade of one dollar bills in a plastic bag with a rubber band on the outside? But he turns and says, “Oh my god you saved my life, what if someone dishonest and watched me drop it, I would be in so much trouble.”

Then he looks in his fanny pack, and says, “My Euros are missing, did you see another bag with Euros.” I knew something was up, because there is an implied accusation there, did I see his Euros? But I didn’t have any Euros on me so he would not be able to accuse me of stealing his Euros. So he starts looking around for his Euros, and I decide to help him look, even though I am suspicious. We are looking on the ground near where his dollars landed, but we can’t find his Euros.

About then, a second man, in plain clothes, flashes a badge and says, “I am a police detective, ... are you two arguing about money?” The first guy tells the detective that I am an honest man because I rescued his dollars but that we can’t find his Euros yet.

The detective asks me if I have any Euros on me, and I say no. I only have Ukrainian money. He then asks me to empty my pockets to prove that I didn’t steal this guys Euros.

I empty all my pockets and show him that I only have Ukranian money. I am smart enough to know not to go out at night with US dollars or Euros or my passport, so I think I am safe. The detective looks at my fold of Ukranian money and says to the guy, "He doesn’t have your Euros."

The guys says, “I never thought he was dishonest, because he already gave me back my dollars."

The detective then asked to see my fold of Ukrainian money to prove there are no Euros hidden in there. I only have about a $150 worth of Ukranian money so I just hand it to him and say, “Take a look for yourself.” He unfolds it and verifies that I have no Euros.

At that moment, the other guy says, “Oh, here are my Euros. They were at the bottom of my bag.”

In that second when I looked at his Euros, the 'detective' must have switched my fold of money for a smaller one. Then the detective says, “Sorry about the trouble, here is your money back.”

It was not until 30 minutes later when I stopped to buy some ice cream, that I discovered the detective made a switch. The net loss to me, about $150.00 (US).

I just chuckled to myself. It was worth the entertainment value to see a pair of smooth criminals at work.

What is the moral of the story? Leave all your Euros, Dollars, credit cards, and passport in the room safe at night so they can only take what you can afford to lose. If I had my Euros on me, this guy would have taken me for much more, and I would have given it up without much of a fight to avoid going to jail.

Just in case you missed it, that probably was not a real policemen.

Kiev is a lovely town; but try to stay awake, or be willing to pay for some very unusual entertainment. Now go have fun, and remember, when things go well all the time, you don't learn as much about people and life.

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Comments

[Mom]

GOOD LESSON FOR ME
THAT WAS SMOOTH, AND EVEN IF YOU SUSPECTED THE DETECTIVE WAS A FAKE, IT WAS BETTER NOT TO CHALLENGE HIM. i GUESS THE ONLY OTHER THING YOU COULD DO WOULD BE TO JUST IGNORE THE GUY AND HIS DROPPED BILLS. BUT, THEN AGAIN, I FEEL SURE, THAT VERY HANDY DETECTIVE WOULD HAVE STOPPED YOU AND INSIST ON CHECKING YOU FOR THE EUROS. GOOD LESSON THOUGH. LOVE, MOM