[Rain Man]

I'm back in Santiago, and I experienced a first today. Three moron pickpockets tried to rob me.

I was in a so-so tourist area, and happened to walk down a quiet street since it's Sunday and a bunch of stuff was closed. I suddenly felt a bunch of wet stuff hit my back. I turned to see what happened, and some guy came running up, pantomiming that a bird had unleashed on me. He pulled out a tissue and started to wipe it on my back to "help me".

A second guy then showed up on the other side to do the same, far too close for my personal space. I realized what has happening and immediately put my hands over my front pockets, which was where I was carrying my valuables. I started to disengage when a third guy came up. I bolted at that point, and got away clean other than having to wash a muddy shirt afterwards. They got nothing for their troubles.

It's apparently a really old ploy. Someone shoots you with a water gun or throws water at your back, and then they descend on you while you're trying to figure out what happened. It happened so fast that it confused me at first, but the key tipoff was that the two guys got way too close in my personal space, which set off alarm bells in my brain.

I got back to my hotel and they called the police. I probably should have gone back and yelled "pickpocket!" every time a tourist walked by.

It was a bit disconcerting, though. I've always felt that I wasn't an attractive target for criminals, but apparently I'm fair game.