Saturday, August 05, 2006
Touqie 偷窃
Theft.
It took almost 7 months, but I finally experienced my first touqie in Shanghai. What did my fast fingered friend make off with? A water bottle. Two, actually. On two separate occasions. Within 12 hours. Less than a mile apart.
The first took place last night when I safely parked and locked my bike outside of HongKou football stadium before watching a couple of football matches with my friends from work. After the game I was pleasantly surprised to find my bike still there (HongKou is not the nicest part of town, however gentrifying rapidly ... think East 11th in Austin), but sans water bottle.
I obviously should have learned my lesson, which I suppose is that hydration just doesn't pay, but no sooner than this morning was I again guilty of carelessly leaving my water bottle secured only by the cage mounted to my bike frame. This time at nearby LuXun park for my morning run. After an hour of exercise in the steamy Shanghai environs, I was eagerly anticipating a thirst quenching drink when I got back to my bike. To my dismay, the water bottle thief had struck again.
As first thirst, then frustration, then pity, then hilarity and finally more thirst set in, I tried to imagine what someone wants with my dirty old plastic water bottles. These aren't fashionable Nalgenes we're talking about; just the cheapo ones that they hand out at every athletic / engineering event with ridiculous logos and take up space in my bottom kitchen drawer.
If anyone spots a guy sipping his Oolong out of a 2003 Muddy Muddy bottle, let me know.
It took almost 7 months, but I finally experienced my first touqie in Shanghai. What did my fast fingered friend make off with? A water bottle. Two, actually. On two separate occasions. Within 12 hours. Less than a mile apart.
The first took place last night when I safely parked and locked my bike outside of HongKou football stadium before watching a couple of football matches with my friends from work. After the game I was pleasantly surprised to find my bike still there (HongKou is not the nicest part of town, however gentrifying rapidly ... think East 11th in Austin), but sans water bottle.
I obviously should have learned my lesson, which I suppose is that hydration just doesn't pay, but no sooner than this morning was I again guilty of carelessly leaving my water bottle secured only by the cage mounted to my bike frame. This time at nearby LuXun park for my morning run. After an hour of exercise in the steamy Shanghai environs, I was eagerly anticipating a thirst quenching drink when I got back to my bike. To my dismay, the water bottle thief had struck again.
As first thirst, then frustration, then pity, then hilarity and finally more thirst set in, I tried to imagine what someone wants with my dirty old plastic water bottles. These aren't fashionable Nalgenes we're talking about; just the cheapo ones that they hand out at every athletic / engineering event with ridiculous logos and take up space in my bottom kitchen drawer.
If anyone spots a guy sipping his Oolong out of a 2003 Muddy Muddy bottle, let me know.
# posted by tim @ 6:16 PM 
Photos on Flickr
RSS Feed