Prague Incident
IT FINALLY HAPPENED! It wasn’t a fumbling amateur event, but a smooth, professional and well-rehearsed piece of theatre. I have played it back many times on my mental video and I can only give the entire episode the most glowing of reviews.
The venue was that delightful ancient city of Prague and front of stage was a tramway-stop thronging with citizens and tourists. It was Wenceslas Square and the backdrop was the city in almost carnival mode. There was music in the air as crowds perambulated and window shopped and ate and drank, in the warm autumn evening.
Laden with the fruits of their bargain buys, a couple of tourists lingered by the tramway info board with its unpronounceable Slavic direction. They wanted the Number 9 tram to take them from the hub to the suburbs of the lovely city and to their hotel. From stage right, a tall dark stranger bent over and asked if he could help – in good English. The laden tourists, with distinct Highland Perthshire accents, thanked him but declined, graciously. |
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From stage left the tram arrived and there was a delightful piece of creative choreography as the principals jostled to climb aboard. The laden tourists were pushed from the rear and held up at the front and it took them a moment or two to move into the body of the tram by pushing their way past three stubborn actors.
This was when the subtlety of the dance was revealed. In that moment a practiced hand located and removed the wallet from the hip pocket of the tall Scottish traveller, who until that moment obviously thought himself to be widely travelled and street wise. He had, in fact, just advised his lady to hold on to her handbag.
The three Czech actors disembarked at the next stop and 15 minutes later, realisation and horror hit our fellow countrymen. There followed frantic long distance telephone calls to cancel not just one credit card, but four credit and switch cards.
The moral of this sad tale is obvious and the humiliation was great. The cost was greater still! One, just one pin number was also in the wallet. It was discretely hidden and with the digits cunningly jumbled. Sadly, not jumbled enough. Several withdrawals were made in the short time before cancellations were effected. Holiday cash went too, as did driving licence and lottery ticket.
Prague was still wonderful – well worth the short hop from Glasgow.
Finally, a grudging admiration has to go to the thieves. Their sophistication and dexterity was first-class. If, however, I thought that Lottery ticket had been a big winner and our thief had collected our millions, I might have had something else to say…
Alex Peak
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