Watch your back at expo

So expo is great and we all love shopping but that doesn’t mean you should wander around carelessly with your bag unzipped or your blackberry hanging loosely from the back pocket of your denim shorts. Not everyone who goes there has candid intentions. Some people will ask why anyone would pay Rwf 500 to enter and rob people. But Rwf500 is a small price to pay for someone who by the end of the night will be leaving with a blackberry, a wallet with some money in it and probably a nice watch as well that they never had to begin with, don’t you think? Expo is filled with all sorts of characters from decent chaps just trying to shop to thieves plotting on whom to rob to what looks to me like homeless kids begging for the ice cream cone you just ordered! They are all in there which is why you must be careful and hold on to your possessions like your life depended on it. In such places, you can never be too careful. Take as much precaution as necessary even at the risk of being called paranoid or timid. Watch out for con artists too. Those ones are everywhere and if you are easily fooled into buying stuff, you will find yourself tricked into buying a whole lot of nothing! In a place as crowded as that one , someone could easily slice your bag and ran off with your wallet and you wont even know it till you realize your bag just got lighter because most of the stuff fell out! And when that happens, the thief will be long gone and all you’ll have is a bunch of sympathizers telling you to be careful next time. So have fun when you’re there but not too much as to leave you completely unconcerned of the safety of your purse or other belongings. The beer tents are the places you can be sure to find some chaps up to no good so leave an eye open for any suspiciously looking ones. I mean the ones with bandanas tied Tupac style with a cigarette behind their ear and jeans literally around their knees. Yes, be ware of those ones. They will not hesitate to snatch anything that doesn’t have a firm grip around it. But then again, even some of the decently dressed ones turn out to be rogues though these ones do it in style. They are the con artists we talk about. They will look so civilized that you will be forced to trust them. After all, the man was wearing a suit and he was polite too! You’ll get the shock of your life when Mr. Polite takes off with your money. Just watch your back the whole time you are there. It’s better to be safe than sorry so don’t mind that people are looking at you gripping onto your bag like it held Secret Service data! When someone else has their purse cut or snatched, sure you won’t be happy about it, but you will be happy it wasn’t you. rachelgaruka@yahoo.co.uk