The Pickpocket and the Smartphone Addicts

Freewrite for August 10th. The prompt was to write a story entirely in first person. I made the audience teen due to some of the references made early on in the story.

Holding onto the rail of a New York subway, I observed the space around me. There wasn’t anything that interesting, just a bunch of people ranging from 20 to 60 years in age, most of them having one thing in common: they were all looking at smartphones. This is all too easy, I thought. No one’s even bothered to look up from their precious mobile phones, bookface messages or chirps. I tried my hardest not to crack a smile and look suspicious, but there was no need to. All I could see were dozens of grown adults looking down at screens, the occasional one reading a book. One of them happened to be reading Fifty Shades of Gray. I put on a face of disgust. No one in there right mind would read an adult magazine on the subway, but they’d read Fifty Shades of Gray here? I’m appalled. 

Shaking my head and pushing the thought aside, I looked around for my next target. Bingo!, I thought as I saw it: a woman’s purse, open wide, with a box from the local jewelry store clearly visible. The woman sitting next to it was, of course, looking at her phone. She’s left her purse wide wide open, has a jewelry box in it, and isn’t even paying attention to it. Boy is the human race full of idiots. I took another look around me to make sure no one was paying attention, only to find there was no point anyways. I carefully reached over to the purse, got a hold of the box, and pulled it out slow enough not to make a sound. I then stuck the box in the inside pocket of my leather jacket. That’s the nice thing about it being cold out, I thought while contemplating the dress of myself and the fellow passengers. Is that can wear a jacket with a million pockets and no one’s the least bit suspicious. 

Upon arriving at my stop, I got off the subway without anyone screaming “I’ve been robbed!” Man, even while arriving at her stop she didn’t get off her phone. I bet 10 bucks she’s probably going to trip on something here in the station without warning. A loud yell and the sound of someone landing on the ground proved me correct. I’ll bet another 10 on if her first focus is on whether her phone screen’s broken rather than if she has everything in her purse. I decided not to stick around and see, instead walking down the street to the local pawn shop. 

That’s the great thing about being a pickpocket rather than a smart phone addict, I’m completely aware of my surroundings. With that thought, I began whistling a song I heard through someone’s headphones that were way too loud on the subway, eager to make a quick buck off of someone’s foolishness.