Theft test...

[PeterNBiddle]

"Wonderful people that are hard working.... "

So... why do you want to tempt or test them them with a thoughtless and patronizing attitude about our own excessive material wealth? You are not projecting a very good image of our own culture, as a visitor welcomed in theirs.

Would you do something like this to your neighbors at home, or staying as a guest in someone's house?

I once accidentally left an envelope of travel-cash in a fisherman's 'guesthouse' on a small island. When I returned two weeks later they cheerfully handed it to me - but it was clear they thought I was a rich d*ckhead for being so careless, when they struggle so hard for so little.


Anyone who sees your camera should feel justified in relieving you of it, but if they don't take it you will have made them feel like fools for being honest. That's not very productive, or humane.

Leaving a camera out doesn't transform anyone into a criminal. I applaud what he's done and I'm not surprised about the results. Your attitude is the patronizing one, assuming that everyone is one easy crime away from being a criminal.

Maybe that is true for you - after all "anyone who sees your camera should feel justified".

But maybe it turns out that not everyone thinks that way after all.


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[scuba127]

We've been diving Bonaire for 15 years and never had anything stolen...2 Days and a wake up...:cool2:

 

[Lorenzoid]

well, Six days and I still have my camera... And water bottles and snacks... Even left a pair of dive scissors on the tail gate at RED SLAVE by accident and they were there 75 minutes later when we came out.. Anyone know where to go to get robbed ??? We even dove the fish shack and no one touched anything.. There were kids fishing to...Maybe this crime thing is over blown...

Jim....

Silly experiment. What conclusion can really be drawn? It isn't like the thieves have all of the dive sites covered all day. For you to have been parked for 75 minutes at each of some selection of sites over six days is hardly a statistical sample. There might be a few would-be thieves prowling around some sites at some times, and there might be a few bored kids passing by some sites who decide on the spur of the moment to liberate or vandalize some tempting item, and there might be many more people who would not be inclined to steal anything. The same sorts of people and opportunities are present here in the US. I can say with some confidence that if I were to leave my car parked on a street here in Atlanta for 75 minutes on an average day, anything readily grabbable would be grabbed. I have been the victim of smash-and-grabs twice in 15 years, and there was never even anything visible to grab--they just smashed the car window and looked around inside. To me, even taking into account all the stories of crime, Bonaire feels quite safe. What you are reporting is a tiny data point.

 

[oldschoolto]

People need to read before posting... I pointed out what was the overall perception was of Bonaire, What was painted as a crime filled Island and anything , Even nailed down would be stolen... I did not and have not found that to be true...

Jim....

 

[redacted]

That test is not without its hazards. Some well meaning diver might think the best thing to do would be to put the camera in your truck and lock it. Then you might get to buy a new window.

 

[Lorenzoid]

People need to read before posting... I pointed out what was the overall perception was of Bonaire, What was painted as a crime filled Island and anything , Even nailed down would be stolen....

That was YOUR perception. Oh, sure, someone might have written "Bonaire is a crime-filled island." And there are admittedly a surprising (even to me) number of reports of crime for an island that size (though plenty of reasons why that might be the case have been offered). But there are also plenty of reports of Bonaire dive trips where nothing was stolen. I have never perceived Bonaire as "crime-filled island" or anything of the sort.

In any case, I'm glad your experiment has changed your perception.

 

[oldschoolto]

That was YOUR perception. Oh, sure, someone might have written "Bonaire is a crime-filled island." And there are admittedly a surprising (even to me) number of reports of crime for an island that size (though plenty of reasons why that might be the case have been offered). But there are also plenty of reports of Bonaire dive trips where nothing was stolen. I have never perceived Bonaire as "crime-filled island" or anything of the sort.

In any case, I'm glad your experiment has changed your perception.

I don't know why I spend my time typing... I have been to Bonaire 3 times in 12 months now... 45 days on the Island... My "experiment" PROVES my perception of the Island.. Bonaire is a wonderful safe place to come dive and enjoy the freedom that only Bonaire can give a diver...

The amount of threads about going to Bonaire that end up as a long a$$ thread about crime and they steal everything, Even a used condom is not safe, no less your old flip-flops and towel... And that is so far from the truth it funny....

And now off to dive the salt pier....

Jim...

 

[Lorenzoid]

"Long a$$ threads" about Bonaire crime are worth very little. The people who take the position that Bonaire is crime-ridden are not going to be persuaded by your experiment--their minds are made up, and they will never change their opinion. They post the same opinions again and again. The rest of us think Bonaire is great. Your first-hand experience and ours is all that matters.

Let us know how Salt Pier was. Over six long weeks until my next visit.

As for spending one's time typing, I leave the computer, tablet, etc., at home when I go on a dive vacation. SB is a great diversion when I'm bored, but there are so many more fun things to do than type.

 

[Manneca]

My last dive trip in May was to Bonaire and I have just returned from Wakatobi, Indonesia. The resort employs quite a few natives of the local islands like Tomia as cleaners, gardeners, load carriers and such. There is very little infrastructure there other than the resort itself and the locals looked far poorer than those in Bonaire by comparison. And yet, all the Western staff at Wakatobi repeatedly assured us that 'nothing would get stolen' and nothing did, although there was plenty of opportunity.

Why I made this comparison is because some people often use the comparative poverty of local Bonairains as the reason (if not an excuse) for the high rate of petty crime there. To me, that kind of argument made no sense.

The difference is in the second sentence. The resort employs. The problem IMHO is that on Bonaire, the residents are rarely employed in the dive industry. At Wakatobi, if anyone were suspected of stealing, they'd be gone in an instant. It's a good job and I love the way Wakatobi lets people move up. Our dive guide there started as a bus boy then bar tender and then he decided he wanted to learn to dive. In Indonesia in general, locals are employed and benefit from tourism. On Bonaire, it's a lot of ex pats who are benefiting from tourism, not locals.

 

[Yoyodyne-88]

Leaving a camera out doesn't transform anyone into a criminal. I applaud what he's done and I'm not surprised about the results. Your attitude is the patronizing one, assuming that everyone is one easy crime away from being a criminal.

Maybe that is true for you - after all "anyone who sees your camera should feel justified".

But maybe it turns out that not everyone thinks that way after all.


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"...assuming that everyone is one easy crime away from being a criminal. "

Actually that is exactly what I did NOT say. Read what I actually wrote.

I have lived and worked with with people in these kinds of places. Knowing how they maintain and guard their integrity despite greater disadvantages than any of us ever experience, I hate to see them deliberately and frivolously "baited" and tempted, tested like some kind of lab rats. It is extraordinarily disrespectful.