Men in Gray.

[colman]

... in response to Give it a rest, posted by DallasSteve2 on Jan 22, 2003

thanks for thinking of me--give yourself a pat on your back--your a real human being :0

[mudd]

... in response to THOUGHT SO, posted by colman on Jan 21, 2003

what were the officers pulling the drivers over for? the article doesnt say.

[colman]

... in response to Re: THOUGHT SO, posted by mudd on Jan 21, 2003

for no reason other than they were black and Latinos--if you need a FEW MORE articles--write back--ciao--Colman

[Celt]

... in response to Re: Re: THOUGHT SO, posted by colman on Jan 22, 2003

Here in San Diego, we have the same problem, however it is
difficult to disentangle the inference of racism from the
possibility of common sense. In yesterday's L.A. Times,
there was an excellent editorial about statistically-
driven charges of racism. The author pointed out that if
you want to correct the over-abundance of robbery reports
about Latin males in S. Los Angeles, you simply have to
ask the police--for about 3 or 4 months--to respond to
those calls by looking for white males in W. Los Angeles.

Statistically, the problem is solved.

[bogota vet]

... in response to Men in Gray., posted by Calipro on Jan 21, 2003

[This message has been edited by bogota vet]

I cannot believe you just didn't walk away the momment he ask for money.  Nobody is going to hand over money to stranger.  Just say you have to , you are late.

[valuedcustomer]

... in response to Men in Gray., posted by Calipro on Jan 21, 2003

It seems the lesson of this is that your mother was right when she said “Don’t talk to strangers”.  If you had brushed the lady off, you would have been down the street and gone before they had time to assemble themselves.

[Andean Condor]

... in response to Men in Gray., posted by Calipro on Jan 21, 2003

Sure enough, I think that common Latin American scams should be read and memorized by every traveller to this part of the world.  If the scam artists know that people are not going to fall for their tricks then this sort of thing will happen less frequently.  You always gotta trust that little voice in your head, huh?  Sounds textbook.

-Andean Condor

[lswote]

... in response to Men in Gray., posted by Calipro on Jan 21, 2003

Wow, scary stuff!  I love Bogota and sometimes forget it has a rough side.  My girlfriend is always scared when I decide to go out by myself, even though I am a big guy, because I guess like you inferred, a 100 pound woman can be a great little bodyguard if she knows what is going on and you don't.

[Michael B]

... in response to Men in Gray., posted by Calipro on Jan 21, 2003

I figured out pretty fast that the old lady was the shill, but that's a lot easier to do when you're reading a story where you already know it's going to be something like that then it is to do when you're just minding your business and suddenly it is unfolding around you and YOU are the target. Remember what the roll call sergeant from Hill Street Blues always said: "Let's be careful out there."