It was an interesting week – with both highs and lows in the City of London.
On the positive side, early on in the week – after the snow disruption – I was due to meet a good friend after work in the City. St Paul’s was deemed the best location and we met with tea and cakes in mind. For once, we didn’t go to a chain coffee or tea shop but wandered around the shiny One New Change building, which sits in the shadow of St Paul’s Cathedral, to Bea’s of Bloomsbury. http://www.beasofbloomsbury.com/pages/st-pauls
It’s a little tricky to find as there are no obvious signs (although it says there are on the web site). Downstairs, we ordered our tea and cakes (a lovely selection of cup cakes – which I sampled, while my friend opted for the Brussels Blondie brownie – that’s with white chocolate) and went up the stairs to find a comfortable booth with a view out over the road outside.
While we browsed a book about other delightful cake spots in the City, we admired the wooden dresser and the amusing cake stands on the side. Shortly, our beverages and cakes were delivered and we passed a happy hour chatting and enjoying our tea.
A couple of days later I arranged to meet a client – as we often did – in Caffe Nero on High Holborn near Chancery Lane tube station. I bought a cappuccino and found a table near the door. When my colleagues arrived I put my bag on the floor in clear sight as I know you have to be very careful with your possessions.
The meeting progressed well but when I tried to check messages on my iPhone in my bag I couldn’t find it. Then I learned that my purse was missing too. Some horrible tea leaf (Cockney rhyming slang for “thief”) had managed to reach under my seat and remove my iPhone and purse without me or my colleagues noticing.
We alerted the Caffe Nero manager who agreed to keep the CCTV and my colleague escorted me down to Snow Hill Police Station. Despite feeling a little shaken and somewhat foolish, the desk officer was kindness itself.
He helped me make calls to log the crime and cancel my bank and credit cards. He also helped me to call O2 to stop my phone and gave me an information pack about identity theft. He was very reassuring. And he even enabled me to contact my friend who I was meant to be meeting at Victoria later that evening. Of course, she came to collect me and applied a large glass of wine to help me recover from the shock.
During the aftermath, when many kind friends got in touch to offer help, one of them mentioned that a similar thing happened to one of their male colleagues while taking tea at a London hotel. And he was ex-SAS so I shouldn’t feel bad.
So. As a result of the actions of one nasty, low life tea leaf (I’ll leave you to karma and/or the City of London police) I lost some money, a purse, some much loved photos of my kids when they were babies and my iPhone. It was an inconvenience and a hassle and I was a bit upset.
However, what was wonderful was the way in which so many people – the café owners, my work colleagues, the fantastic Police, my friends, the financial institutions and O2 who got replacements to me faster than the speed of light – rallied round with practical, moral and emotional support. My confidence in human nature is restored.
Let’s remember that we are much, much safer in London than in places like Barcelona in Spain and Naples in Italy. I’ve lived in London my entire life and this is only the second time I’ve experienced any crime. I still love London. But please be careful out there folks…
