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0 pointstoyg5y ago0 comments

> Running a tar pit is a bit like installing a trap on a bike in order to teach bike thieves a lesson.

It's more like approaching a thief and persuading him to steal some bike "just around the corner", then guiding him around endlessly. While he's following you, he's also not stealing anything from anyone, his attention (which is naturally finite) gets drained - even just a little bit - to the benefit of the community as a whole. It's not necessarily about vengeance.

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kebman5y ago

Tangent story. Two friends of mine went backpacking to Amsterdam, short pants and all. When they got out of the train in the evening, a friendly guy approached them and asked if they were looking for a hotel. They said yes, so he told them to follow him. Delighted to be greeted in this way, they did.

First they went down the regular path up Damrak to get to Leidseplein, but slowly and imperceptibly the streets were getting narrower and narrower, until they finally reached a dead end. That's when the guy whirled around, flipped out a small pocket knife and wheezed to them, "Gimme all your cash! NOW!"

The guys looked at each other, and then looked at him, and then one of the guys calmly told him, "Look, we're two guys, and you're just one. Even if you get one of us, the other will beat your head in. You can't win this."

The mugger looked puzzled for a moment, but then he retorted, "Ok, give me half your money then, and nobody gets hurt!" Not wanting to be the first guy who got stabbed, they agreed that, "Fine, we'll give you half! But only if you promise to not stab us." And so the deal went down, and they had finally arrived in Amsterdam.

graton5y ago

Makes me think of one of my personal rules when traveling. If I am needing help, I don't take it from someone who approaches me. I just say, no thank you. If I need help, I pick someone randomly and ask for help. The likelihood that they are a criminal is much less compared to someone who approaches me.

Symbiote5y ago

This is also good advice for children.

If you need help, ask, don't wait to be asked.

jjeaff5y ago

People will approach tourists a lot like this in central and south america, but the end game tends to be to take the tourist to an inn or restaurant where they get a commission for taking them.

I've never gone with anyone anywhere but very public spaces. But I actually have found some real gems tucked away off the beaten path this way.

milesvp5y ago

A friend and I took a day trip to Morocco many years ago while backpacking through Spain and experienced this. A local guide approached us who came across as pretty legit and had a driver. We had a good time being shown around to different stores and it was pretty clear that he was getting a kickback from the places we went. Had some nice mint tea, and a pretty good meal later.

There was a slightly dark time in the middle though, where my friend and I were sure we were going to be mugged and left for dead when we were driving further and further from the city. I've never experienced anything quite like it before or since. We both looked at each other, and in an instant with a single expression we were both able to convey that "I love you and we're going to die". We were totally relieved when it turned out they just wanted to show a scenic view by the sea, while showing us a lot of very rich mansions along the way.

Was totally surreal, though, and I'm not sure how lucky we were.

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ropable5y ago

Spouse and I got hooked like this when we visited Beijing some years ago. We could actually tell what was going on, but our "guide" was a friendly university-aged girl who (at our request) took us to a couple of local art galleries and a wonderful restaurant. She may have gotten a commission and definitely a good meal out of it, but we actually had a fine experience.

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jschwartzi5y ago

Lol someone approached me like that in Amsterdam too and offered to guide me somewhere. I figured that this was his plan so I told him I was okay and that I didn’t need his help.

car5y ago

Tangent on tangent. An aquaintance visited Morroco, and was befriended by a young local, his guide for two weeks. On the last day, he bought a $3000 rug from a store owner relative of the guide. Suffice it to say, said rug never shipped.

tomcam5y ago

Fun.

Wouldn't end that way with me and my friends.

venatiodecorus5y ago

well what they're saying is sure you can do this but this hypothetical bike thief isn't going to follow you very far. ime this would seem to be the case. most ssh spam is very dumb, just looking for low hanging fruit w/ default credentials, and will likely move on very quickly without success.

ed25519FUUU5y ago

It sounds like you’re both trapped in this scenario.

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