Of course, I know it's politically incorrect to say "Gypsy". I know they are the Romani people, and there is a lovely Romani man who often performs on our bridge (sometimes as a large bubble blower, sometimes as a street-sweeping statue) whom we like very much. But there is an unmistakable unsavory element to the local gangs who run rings as scam artists and pickpockets that makes me want to just call them Gypsies. I say this with the bitterness of somebody who was pickpocketed by a couple of them. And also as someone who has witnessed the supposedly deaf/mutes collecting signatures and money for their "cause" turn around once the tourists have left and hold fully normal, speaking-hearing conversations. And, finally, as a parent who once saw a big teenager physically push Pippa off a swing so she herself could sit down. When I confronted her, she was completely unrepentant. In her worldview, it is fine for a 17-year old to shove a 6-year old.
It's enough of a recurring problem in Paris that when our lovely Romani street performer helps us track down a backpack we had inadvertently left on the bridge, and I realize his French is not very good, we have the following conversation:
Trying to see if there is a better language in which we can communicate, I ask "Español? Italiano?....Where are you from? What language?"
He hesitates, then responds, "Romani," and adds quickly, "but I am not a bad Romani. I am a good one." This makes me profoundly sad, that he feels the need to distance himself from his ethnic group, but given the way many of them are behaving, I can understand why.
There have been some recent attempts to round up the Romani -- generally futile in that they keep coming back. On one haul, we witness twelve Romani women being arrested and taken away in four police cars. First, the police frisk them, and look very carefully through all of their jackets and pockets. A visitor that is with me at the time wonders why, but to any local, the answer is obvious: They are looking for pickpocketed wallets, phones, and other valuables.
So if you're walking through Paris and you're approached by supposedly deaf/mute people with petitions, do not let them come right up to your body, do not sign, and for heaven's sake, don't give them any money.
It's enough of a recurring problem in Paris that when our lovely Romani street performer helps us track down a backpack we had inadvertently left on the bridge, and I realize his French is not very good, we have the following conversation:
Trying to see if there is a better language in which we can communicate, I ask "Español? Italiano?....Where are you from? What language?"
He hesitates, then responds, "Romani," and adds quickly, "but I am not a bad Romani. I am a good one." This makes me profoundly sad, that he feels the need to distance himself from his ethnic group, but given the way many of them are behaving, I can understand why.
There have been some recent attempts to round up the Romani -- generally futile in that they keep coming back. On one haul, we witness twelve Romani women being arrested and taken away in four police cars. First, the police frisk them, and look very carefully through all of their jackets and pockets. A visitor that is with me at the time wonders why, but to any local, the answer is obvious: They are looking for pickpocketed wallets, phones, and other valuables.
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