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"I'm not trying to tell you how to live your life, I'm just saying you have options."
Bill Hicks.
I like this city because
it doesn't stress me out. I don't feel like looking over my shoulder
when I use a bancomat and I don't think about which parts of
town I should avoid when I'm out for a drink because on the whole I
feel safe, and rightly so. Feeling safe is a luxury which should be
appreciated but not taken for granted. Common sense needs to dictate
your behaviour wherever you are as all cities have bad people and
Florence, for all of its provincial charm, is still a city.
Stay
sober enough to look after yourself.
You might start a night
out as part of a reassuring group of 12 people, but you never know
where they're all going to end up. If, by the end of the night,
you're not sober enough to make basic decisions for your own
well-being then you are not safe. Duh.
Would
I do this at home?
Its nice to suspend one's
life back home and move abroad. Its a liberating feeling and can
really give you a different perspective as you adapt to a new
language, timetable, cuisine and so on. There are certain things,
however, that don't change no matter where you are. Things like the
laws of physics, traffic signs and the potency of alcohol. So while
it is certainly great to 'let go' from time to time, ignore your
apprehensions and immerse yourself in new experiences – you must
still ask yourself “would I get into this guy's car if he was
trying to pick me up back home?”. Listen to yourself and you'll
normally come up with the right answer.
Keep
your head
Moving abroad obviously
opens up a world of cultural differences that you have to contend
with. Attitudes and behaviour towards women, for instance, can be a
definite culture shock. The important thing, from your point of view,
is to keep your cool. This doesn't mean that you have to learn to
tolerate disgusting behaviour, it means you have to learn to handle
that behaviour. The best way to deal with unwanted attention is to
soberly, politely and sternly request that it be stopped. The worst
way to deal with it is to scream “GET AWAY FROM ME YOU F*@%ING
PERVERT” to someone who probably does not understand the word
pervert, but definitely understands the 'F' word. Doing this is
likely to humiliate him in front of his friends and provoke him into
at least responding and asserting his masculinity – from this point
a situation can quickly escalate into anything at all. If you feel
like you are a more polite, better educated and generally classier
person than your harasser, then act like one and it should defuse
most any situation you find yourself in.
Don't
get robbed
I've often said that one
good thing about getting robbed in Florence is that you rarely know
about it till you get home. Pickpocketing seems to have diminished
somewhat in the centre (that's just a personal observation – the
statistics may say otherwise), but it is still the most likely crime
you'll fall victim to. There are obvious steps to holding on to your
stuff that are worth repeating.
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Keep your wallet \
passport \ cash in an interior pocket, or at least a front pocket on
your pants. The back pocket is the easiest place to steal from and
its apparently bad for your back as well. So there you go.
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Don't leave your
stuff lying around (on tables in bars, benches in piazze, etc.) An
opportunist thief needs the opportunity – don't give it to him.
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Don't have it in the
first place. Ask yourself whether or not you really need your camera
for a Thursday night out in Florence. The pictures will probably
turn out rubbish and look exactly the same as those from Wednesday
night, so just don't take the risk in the first place.
Drugs
are bad.
I'm sure you have your
own opinion on this and Lord knows I'm not interested in definitively
answering a very complex issue in this little article, but look at it
this way – if you go drunkenly chucking your money around looking
to get high on a whim then the chances are that the drugs will,
almost certainly, be bad. Also, the guys offering you a little
something, inviting you to party and all the rest of it – they're
not doing that because they think you are cool and they really want
to hang out with you – no no no, they are doing that so that they
can sell you vastly over-priced cocaine that's probably cut with
baking soda. But, you know, if it makes you feel cool...
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