(i actually wrote this the day after the accident, before Thailand, and forgot to put it up)

Snatch theft is not a new thing in KL, or Malaysia for that matter.
You read about it in the papers, you hear how your friends’ bags got snatched, you see ads for bags with detachable straps.

A couple of years back, i remember MaryBerry and Debbie got scared shitless by guys on motorbikes with knives outside a friend’s house. And it wasn’t like they were simply lepaking outside the house. They just got out of the car and were waiting for their friend to open the gate.

Last month, QueenKanch got robbed in Bangsar just outside Nirwana. She wasn’t alone, a group of guy friends were standing just a few feet away from her when a car stopped next to her. A guy got out, asked for her bag and in shock, she gave it to him instead of putting up a fight (which was obviously better lest she got hurt!). This can’t even be called ’snatch theft’ wei. It’s ‘take theft’ :p

As someone who spends so much time driving themselves around alone, i’ve received my appreciated share of advice and i *do* follow it as much as i can.

I lock the car doors the moment i get in.
Nowadays, i try not to put my handbag on the seat next to me (the Zouk ppl told me how some thieves have taken to smashing your passenger window and grabbing your bag while your car is stationary at a red light/jam, before zooming off).
I don’t walk in lanes alone and look around and behind me for motorcyclists.
I try to walk on pavements instead of the side of the road.

I wasn’t even alone the night someone tried to snatch my bag.
NickIsTaller and StephTheVolcano were with me.
It’s just that sometimes, yes, i slip.
I had that moment when i wasn’t careful to walk on the pavement instead of the road.
I had that moment where i walked without listening out for a motorbike.
I had that moment when i was careless cos i thought nothing would happen to me.
And in that bloody small window of Joyce-Being-Careless, someone was able to grab that opportunity.

I was walking two steps towards my car when in a whoosh and a knock, i found myself lying flat on the road.
It happened so quick that the first thing i thought was, “OW… Owwwww… man, that HURT. What was that!?”
When i realised i was on the road and that i stung in places i hadn’t yet discerned, my first thought was that i’d got knocked down by a car.
Till i looked up to see a motorbike speeding off in front of me.

“The fellow was trying to get your bag!” said NickIsTaller.
No shit.

“Oh my god! Are you okay!?” asked StephTheVolcano
“Yeah.” I was pretty much in shock and wanted to sit down.
Hobbling to the pavement, i lowered my stinging (cos that’s how it felt!) body to sit.
Admittedly, i cried for 15 seconds like a kitten (it was only less then half a minute, i swear) cos it was so painful as they inspected my injuries.

My left hand was so painful i couldn’t even close it properly and my right knee was bleeding.
But that was about it and it wasn’t a big deal.
Steph told me she kept on asking whether i wanted to get a bandage for it but all i could do was crow how the fucker didn’t get my bag.

Which was lucky.
Cos i was going to purchase a new phone (which i didn’t have time to in the end) so i had over a K in cash on me, two phones, my digicam, cards, all my keys, ARGH imagine the MAH FAN-NESS if i had lost all that!

I would have been crying for 15 hours instead of 15 seconds sial.

I’m really lucky cos i didn’t get hurt too badly.
And my Anya with all its contents didn’t get stolen.

Remember the Rule of Three?
How the bloody thief made me terbabas on the road like that… one day he’s going to get knocked down by some car with three times the injuries, i swear. Or worse, cos i’m sure he’s inflicted more pain on other women as well.

This is a good lesson.

To remind me to be more careful, and not to take my good luck for granted all the time.
And now i know what Mary and Kanch meant about being paranoid after a robbery. 0_o
***

I got reminded of this post i left in drafts when i read about Lainie’s recent accident.
And it’s not just us, there’s been a lot of shit happening recently, what with the female/child kidnappings and all.
Just last week i was introduced to a girl who asked what was wrong with my knee and i told her.
She retorted with, “Oh, someone snatched my bag in SS2 two weeks ago!”

Also, please read about the recent bus crash that occurred on Friday.

Excerpt from the Star Online:

Nian Ning, 21, a Public Service Department (PSD) scholar at the University of New South Wales in Australia who was on her way to visit friends in Kuala Lumpur, was among three passengers who perished when the driver lost control of the bus and slammed into a divider. 

“We learnt that the driver had 13 summonses against him. Why had the company not screened him and realised that he was not competent to drive that bus? I wonder why the authorities still allowed such a monster to roam our streets?” asked Nian Ning’s distraught father Lee Hock Chuan, 50, a company human resources director.

The family plans to take action against the bus company, read more about it here.