Saturday, November 17, 2007

Munich Safe or Stupid?

I have often commented on the safety of Munich because I am continually astounded by it, but I think sometimes Müncheners take it too far. Here is the story, you decide. I was leaving work a couple days ago and now that we are embarking on an arctic winter it has long been dark outside. As I turn the corner I see two men dress in dark colors (with any identifying features hidden behind massive amounts of winter clothing) milling about a brand new BMW and struggling with a cumbersome object. If I were back home, or in any other city for that matter, I would assume that they were burglarizing the car and in the vain hope that it might offer some protection, clutch the mace that I carry in my pocket even tighter. Since I am in Munich I assess the situation as being of no danger and plan to walk past sans mace. When I am about twenty feet away the two men begin to walk away from the car. Now the two backseat doors are wide open. As I get closer I see that there is no one inside (or around) the car and the cumbersome object was a large television which is now resting in the back seat. The Two men are far off in the distance and about to be concealed by a cluster of buildings. They have not only advertised that a very expensive car is unlocked and available-by leaving the doors open and the interior lights on in the dark night as a beacon of possible theft-but they have made it even more enticing by placing a rather nice television in the backseat. Either these are the two most trusting men in the world or the stupidest. Perhaps I am just jaded but I think they are the stupidest. I truly hope that all was as they left it when they returned to their car because I have neither a new television nor a new BMW.

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