I am Spanish. When I was a kid, just to
make it across the park to my school without any major incidents I had to pay
an older kid 25 pesetas. As this
blackmail took place, he didn’t even bother to get off his bike in order to
carry it out. Many years later, they stole my bike in Sevilla. It was on the
balcony of a very high first floor. C’mon, they must have used a crane to get
it.
And now I find myself in “Pleasantville”
where:
- No one would think to steal your bike seat, much less lock their own bikes
- In libraries, people go outside for a smoke and leave their laptops on top of the table
- Women in bars leave their bags on tables wide open for all the world to see. Yes, I know this happens in other countries but I’ve only visited those places not lived there.
And just like it happened in
“Pleasantville”, I am only making things worse here. I don’t rob but I can’t
believe that I won’t get robbed. And I’m afraid that my distrust will spread
like a virus. My landlord (the Asian man) instead of giving me the bank account
details, told me to place the rent for the month in an envelope under the door
of his office on the premises - a door that Macguyer could open with a simple
huff and puff. I told him that I’d feel much less uneasy if I could put it in
an account, to which he replied: “Everyone here puts it underneath the door.”
And me, the fool that I am, told him even more firmly that I’d really rather put
it in the bank. What a fool for saying that. I am genetically incapable of
leaving hundreds of dollars underneath a door and then feeling relaxed about
it. But I am working on it. Perhaps in a few weeks’ time I’ll be able to shower
without locking the door to my room.
P.S You have to watch Pleasantville, just
be patient with the first 10 minutes of it.
