crisis at the distributeur

So I love Paris, but there are some freaky people who call this place home --- old men with wigs spritzing themselves with lots n lots of perfume, Sarkozy, my roommates, homeless people with bunnies, et cetera. Then there are the freakers who try to steal your shizz. Last week my roommate was pick pocketed in the metro, and this week... was my turn.

I was on my way to Sciences Po to sign up for my Ultimate Frisbee course (woot woot), and I had to get some argent out of the ATM to be able to pay for the class. As I approached the distributeurs I saw a group of kids - girls and boys from about 9 to 13 - kind of messing around, pressing buttons, some of them smoking. I really hate stereotyping, but for lack of better more-informed words, they looked like gypsy children. [complete side note - check out this legit gypsy jazz guitarist from back in the day, Django Reinhardt] And although I was naive enough to go up to the ATMs, I still kept my messenger bag safely snug under one arm.


I put my card in and discretely - just as the machine tells me I should - typed in my pin. When I got to the screen where you pick out what amount you'd like to deplete from your account, one of the older girls reached over and tried to push one of the higher amounts. Had I thought up this story in my head, I would imagine myself standing there like a wuss, scared out of my mind, frozen, letting this child intimidate 300 euros out of me. Fortunately, I don't know myself that well.

I proceeded to forcefully grab her hand and tell her "Non" and "Arrête" -- after-wards I wondered if arrêtez, the formal way of saying stop, would have been more appropriate (?) -- but she continued to reach over and try and get some money money money. All the while Yelle's dance-tastic pop hit "A cause des garçons" is playing in my right ear, as the left side of me frantically tries to find the CANCEL button. Finally, after about 4 or 5 of these exchanges, her posse started to retreat and she followed suit.

I got my card out and proceeded to shakily walk the streets of Paris with a "don't mess with me right now or I will drop kick you" look on my face. And well - so far, so good.