Iceni Posted July 28, 2010 Share Posted July 28, 2010 Having read warnings here or that other place (or was it the Daily Mail?) I was on my guard against Romainian types pretending to have car problems while in reality having mates in the bushes waiting to rape and rob me.Well folks this potential problem has arrived here in sleepy N Lot. Yesterday whilst driving home from St Cere near the Grottes I spotted a swarthy p***y type in an ill-fitting, gaudy suit trying to flag me down. His car, bearing a dreaded RO plate, was parked in a layby. Any thoughts of stopping to help were swiftly banished because of what I have read. Am I being too cautious or should I abandon my irrational fear of Johnny Foreigner?Discuss.John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceni Posted July 28, 2010 Author Share Posted July 28, 2010 Or would my reaction have been different if the RO type had been a tall blonde with short skirt and big air bags (female of course)?John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted July 28, 2010 Share Posted July 28, 2010 You did the right thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted July 28, 2010 Share Posted July 28, 2010 [quote user="Iceni"]Or would my reaction have been different if the RO type had been a tall blonde with short skirt and big air bags (female of course)? John[/quote]Airbags or no airbags, he could have been a man in drag, Iceni, and you could still have been robbed and raped.The worry would have been if you'd stopped and the Romanians had ignored you totally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chancer Posted July 28, 2010 Share Posted July 28, 2010 Being robbed by a man in drag is one thing but to be raped [:-))] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted July 28, 2010 Share Posted July 28, 2010 Joking apart... A couple of years back, we were driving to St Céré when we saw a car stopped in the middle of the road, surrounded by several people. I was about to pull over to offer help, but thought the better of it.Later in the day, we found out there have been instances of people faking a car break-down and blockingin the helpful good samaritan whilst making monetary demands...This happened to several locals and the men in blue managed to put a stop to it.It was unfortunate (!) that the unreliable car(s?) would always break down in a rather unconvenient spot, where there wasno mobile phone reception... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony F Dordogne Posted July 28, 2010 Share Posted July 28, 2010 And they're also at some of the junctions on the Rocade in Bordeaux, offering to wash your windscreen for you - but in droves, must have been 15/20 women doing it last week when we were there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frederick Posted July 28, 2010 Share Posted July 28, 2010 I am with Wooly here... You were right not to stop. He would have to have been lying in the road and tall enough to block both lanes before I would have come to a standstill for him . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitty Posted July 28, 2010 Share Posted July 28, 2010 In the UK village where I used to live, someone rang the doorbell of a friend claiming that someone had been knocked over outside. My friend dashed out to help the supposedly stricken person and was distracted for a goodly time, during which her house was raided by accomplices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted August 4, 2010 Share Posted August 4, 2010 [quote user="Iceni"]Having read warnings here or that other place (or was it the Daily Mail?) I was on my guard against Romainian types pretending to have car problems while in reality having mates in the bushes waiting to rape and rob me.Well folks this potential problem has arrived here in sleepy N Lot. Yesterday whilst driving home from St Cere near the Grottes I spotted a swarthy p***y type in an ill-fitting, gaudy suit trying to flag me down. His car, bearing a dreaded RO plate, was parked in a layby. Any thoughts of stopping to help were swiftly banished because of what I have read. Am I being too cautious or should I abandon my irrational fear of Johnny Foreigner?Discuss.John[/quote]It seems swarthy men keep having transport problems.I have just driven past a seemingly broken-down car, doors and bonnet open. A man standing next to it was desperately flagging down passing vehicles with his road map, his forlorn- looking young son standing by.I stopped at the gendarmerie in the village to send him some help, but it was closed... Shame... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooperlola Posted August 4, 2010 Share Posted August 4, 2010 I'm more suspicious than I used to be about these things because, honestly, who doesn't have a mobile any more - even travellers? Surely we're most of us capable of calling for help nowadays without involving passing strangers?But I do think it's pretty sad that we trust so few people now. Ten years or so ago my car broke down in the middle of nowhere and about 9 o'clock at night so I knocked on the door of the only house around to ask if I could phone my o/h. They refused to let me in so I had to walk two miles in the pitch dark before I found the next place where, happily, the owner was rather kinder. After that I bought my first mobile phone and have had one ever since, even though I only make two or three calls a year on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted August 4, 2010 Share Posted August 4, 2010 Oh dear, Coops, I don't think I'll have my mobile next month when I go on the Compostelle. For one thing, we will be staying in very basic accommodation in refugios and I doubt that there will be any electric point for the use of charging up mobiles.I know I could take a wind-up charger or some such but, not only will that take space and weigh a few onces (and weight is of the essence here), the idea of the pilgrimage is that you leave all your "normal" comforts behind (and I guess that, in my case, it includes ringing the OH to give him a blow by blow account of how hard the going is!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooperlola Posted August 4, 2010 Share Posted August 4, 2010 Aw, Sweets, and there was I thinking you'd be taking your netbook so that you could give us a step-by-step account of your travels, with piccies of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted August 4, 2010 Share Posted August 4, 2010 You will need a sat nav too Sweets as you are surely gonna get lost though I think the fone will do that. Ifd there is a signal in those deep, threatening valleys with all the swarthy people begging or offering to look after your luggage!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frederick Posted August 4, 2010 Share Posted August 4, 2010 Well... that has got her praying for safe deliverance all the way ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
just john Posted August 4, 2010 Share Posted August 4, 2010 I sometimes come across this kind of incident, including one hitchhiker in a suit which I unfortunately gave a lift and then had to listen to all sorts of scams for money, luckily a passenger mate had agreed to jump in the back with the hiker in the front just in case and we dropped him at the next town. Since then I have this device in my head which can give an instant assessment [I] and resists all attempts to stop at these incidents. Sweets, try carrying your phone with you but turned off, [:)] then you can turn it on at will and use it sparingly as the occasion require, such as sat nav, OH, or calling a cab![:P] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted August 4, 2010 Share Posted August 4, 2010 Many thanks for all your sympathy and votes of confidence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swissie Posted August 4, 2010 Share Posted August 4, 2010 Just hate the thought of no longer being a good Samaritan- horrible to think maybe once one of my daughters or grandchildren need help- and people will just leave them there in danger. And yet - times have changed I know and I am not stupid. We were flagged down one night in the South of France and didn't stop, but immediately phoned the police. Never knew the results. I hope I'd still use my instincts and carefully assess the situation and help out if at all possible. I needed to hitch hike in an emergency no very long ago, in a blizzard in the middle of nowhere, and I am very glad somebody trusted me and gave me a lift - I know my friends were quite please I was therefore able to rescue them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemonimo Posted August 4, 2010 Share Posted August 4, 2010 [quote user="sweet 17"]Oh dear, Coops, I don't think I'll have my mobile next month when I go on the Compostelle. [/quote]Bet you will[Www] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted August 4, 2010 Share Posted August 4, 2010 [quote user="Swissie"] I needed to hitch hike in an emergency no very long ago, in a blizzard in the middle of nowhere, and I am very glad somebody trusted me and gave me a lift - I know my friends were quite please I was therefore able to rescue them. [/quote]What you have blizzards in Switzerland, Swissie?And people actually give you lifts?Wow, that's really impressive![;-)]Couldn't happen where I live, alas.....no blizzards and I don't think people are interested in giving anyone lifts![:'(] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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