this post was submitted on 07 Jul 2025
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[–] booly@sh.itjust.works 22 points 1 day ago (1 children)

America used to have plenty of pickpocketing, but it's pretty much gone away for a few reasons:

  • Pickpocket apprenticeships have fallen by the wayside, and the actual skills to be able to pull this off are no longer taught to young people.
  • The rise of cashless payment norms reduce the reward for a successful pickpocket: canceled credit cards won't do anything for anyone.
  • America is a violent place, and it's easier to steal with violence or the threat of violence.
  • Other types of sneaky nonviolent theft have arisen, and things like identity theft or hacking or other fraud is an alternative outlet for those who might want to non-violently steal someone else's money.

All this will likely happen in Europe, as well. Just maybe a slower transition in the pockets where cash is still common (tourist destinations with international travelers).

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[–] Ougie@lemmy.world 24 points 1 day ago (1 children)

If anyone deserves a good beating it's pickpockets.

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[–] pasdechance@jlai.lu 27 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Not entirely positive that this happened. I mean the Americans beating pickpockets. I'm sure it could have happened, but I live in France and was here and never heard about this...

There is a Medium post (https://scribe.rip/the-bad-influence/americans-in-paris-ready-to-rumble-with-pick-pocketers-f62b169abccd) but there isn't a single French news source (that I can easily find) related to this ever happening.

[–] troglodyte_mignon@lemmy.world 2 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

I’m French, worked in Paris during the Olympics, and I’m pretty sure that the Medium “article” is fake news.

And anyway, a lot of Americans visited Paris every year before the Olympics, so I think that we’d have heard about this before if it was a thing.

[–] postman@literature.cafe 16 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I agree, this is posted as news when it's likely anecdotal or even fabricated. It plays on the American self-image as John Wayne types, when everyone in Europe knows they're usually not very streetwise and walk around with maps and cameras talking loudly.

The other comments here are quick to jump in with opinions about how Americans don't take any shit, implying European simps just roll over for these pesky pilferers.

It's a real Don't Mess with Texas vibe based on another dodgy blog article.

[–] booly@sh.itjust.works 12 points 1 day ago

Don't Mess with Texas

Not directly related to the content of your post, but I wanted to point out that "Don't Mess With Texas" originated as an pro-environment slogan encouraging Texans to pack out their own trash instead of littering in the wilderness and from their cars.

Somehow it got coopted into some kind of Texan tough guy mentality (probably George W. Bush's fault). But at the beginning it was an environmental protection slogan.

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[–] pleaaaaaze@lemmings.world 18 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Killing people over things do sound american lmao

[–] tankfox@midwest.social 20 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (12 children)

Yeah but we're not talking about things here, we're talking about people coming up and taking from you, which is an act of violence to which one should certainly expect a response. Don't like the response? Keep your hands to yourself, simple as that.

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[–] Ikarius@lemmy.world 12 points 1 day ago (1 children)

So in the U.S. people don't play pickpocketing, they just steal with guns in hand?

[–] BigPotato@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

It's like when your Pokemon forgets 'scratch' to learn 'armed robbery', still a normal type move with the same effect, just more powerful.

[–] moakley@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago

I think we should use Pokémon metaphors to describe all human interactions.

[–] JackbyDev@programming.dev 6 points 1 day ago

The indomitable American spirit. The right to BARE ARMS. Catch these fists.

[–] AnarchistArtificer@slrpnk.net 65 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I often find Americans abroad to be quite charming in how American they are. Certainly, there are some that are obnoxious (and even their friendliness can be obnoxiousness in a way), but it can be quite endearing; Americans (especially the ones you meet while travelling) are so outgoing, and they're so keen to make connections with people. Like, is it cringe when an American says "oh my great great grandfather was Scottish", as if makes any difference at all that they are 1/16 Scottish? Yeah, somewhat. But after a friend explained to me that she sees it as coming from a deep desire to connect with other people, I began to see it as quite sweet.

It's part of why I grieve for what's going on in America right now. "American-ness" is a messy, mixed concept, and it would be unreasonable to ignore how much of that concept is deeply problematic. However, I feel that there is goodness within that concept, and the people in power at the moment seem hell bent on destroying or undermining what goodness exists there.

[–] Test_Tickles@lemmy.world 22 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Plenty of us are just entitled psychopaths who ate too much lead paint as children, but I think you are correct that the rest of us are looking for connections. We come from a place where our traditions are shallow and our heritage is mostly just awful. We are not only looking to connect, but we are also essentially a bunch of orphans trying to desperately figure out who we are and where we belong.
I know most other people find it obnoxious, so I never really bring it up, but I do, it's also an invitation to tell me more about who you are and where you come from.

[–] Stalinwolf@lemmy.ca 7 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

As an (expat) American I have always felt a desire to connect with my heritage and experience the old world, despite never having the chance to. It feels crazy to me that people are overseas living where so much history played out, walking old streets past ancient walls and buildings, and often within a short journey to Neolithic sites and old ruins. There are quiet men herding sheep in a windswept field with mossy rock formations just chilling over there beside their prized lamb, Ollie. Americans removed themselves from all of that and over a couple of centuries it became something mythical and out of reach. We are essentially cut off from our own heritage, and are strangers to our own people, but we've been brought up in a culture that makes us quite alien to them when we do make the pilgrimage.

It's kind of a sad thing, but I've been away from America long enough to understand why Europeans are so put off. Even the most left-leaning Americans need a lot of de-programming. I know I did. Now when my mother visits I am hyper-aware of how different we have become.

[–] Deflated0ne@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 15 hours ago)

Hyper individualism. A "fuck you I got mine" mentality. In a country where there is no safety net and you have to suffer for every dime so you can pay a rent just to exist.

Edit - Human life has no value here beyond its utility to the state. Or a corp. Same difference in an oligarchy.

[–] NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone 20 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The pickpocket has already failed if the mark sees them, so not sure what was happening here. And people who are not used to pick pockets would not likely be looking out for them. Were they going around in groups wearing “Official Paris Olympics Pickpocket” hi-vis vests?

[–] PapaStevesy@lemmy.world 12 points 1 day ago (2 children)

On the contrary, I'm American and agree with the experience of never having things taken off me, however I'm still always thinking about it when I'm in a crowded area, even more so when I'm traveling. If I was in Europe where I know pickpocketing is actually more of a problem, I'd be doubly cautious. All this and I'm not racist or xenophobic like a lot of Americans.

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[–] TriflingToad@sh.itjust.works 44 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

sidenote, the reading of a thread on twitter is hellish. Top to bottom be damned, it's like 3 different UIs in one.
Especially if there's a little addon from Tumblr at the end of something.
why isnt the reddit type formatting good enough?!

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[–] Ilovethebomb@sh.itjust.works 27 points 1 day ago (18 children)

This is definitely a win for the Americans, beating the shit out of pickpockets is awesome.

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