Monday, April 26, 2010

Modern Day Thievery

Well, the industrious thieves are at it again here on crime-free Isla Mujeres.

Somebody is going around stealing water meters and the copper piping that connects them to our houses. Saturday night my neighbor got hit and a few weeks ago the neighbor a little further down the street.

I fear I am going to be hit soon as my piping is in front of my house and totally unprotected.

This is not happening just to the Gringo houses. I'm afraid it is going to become an epidemic around the island.

So, for you island officials monitoring this blog: what are you going to do about this?

6 comments:

lisa said...

Is there anything you can do from them getting yours? I liked your story from yesterday. Sometimes it is sad to have to realize that from a tragic circumstance. You have a good week.

Calypso said...

Maybe one of those fake surveillance cameras would deter those scoundrels. Would motion sensing flood lights discourage them? - I would opt for a huge capacitor that would discharge when you touched the copper pipe - give them something to think about.

Anonymous said...

Connect a wire from your electrical box to the pipe. That will give them a jolting wake up call if they try to steal yours. :)

Elaine said...

How do you search your blog?
Elaine

Islagringo said...

lisa: I'm working on it but I'm afraid if they want it, they'll just take it anyway.

calypso: camera - got one
motion light - cats and other animals set them off all the time and make me a nervous wreck checking why the light is on
capacitor - tell me more. I don't know what this is but I sure as hell would electrify my whole house if I could!

Elaine: simple. At the top of the page, next to that orange and white Blogger B, is an empty box that says "search blog". Just type in a keyword and go hunting!

Linda Dorton said...

I noticed the electrical meter is being slowly removed from its spot on my yucatecan neighbors' abandoned home. I have never seen the scoundrels, but it is a common crime around here which I see on the rise. They ripped off the box from other expat friends of ours. Stealing copper and the busting of copper rings are in the news often. What is the world coming to?

I think that people are getting desperate for one thing. The other thing, of course, is that gringos have a pot of gold that flows over and if the folks in distress need something, well, take it from someone who can easily replace it, a gringo, that is not a crime. the other thing i am wondering....if i were to rob your copper wiring on thurs, go to confession on saturday, confess that i was desperate and robbed the copper wiring, but it was only from a gringo, would the priest give me five hail marys and ten our fathers and forgive me? does this then mean people can sin when they need to because in confession they are automatically forgiven? does this make it all OK in their minds?

I am in the middle of these types of crises right now too, and struggling with the mindset of those who steal. Not copper, not my electrical box, but seriously questioning life around me as I see it.