Pickpocket at Super Lake

I think there is a certain amount of personal responsibility needed here. The OP was correct in pointing out the mistakes she had made. There is no one in front of SL who hassles me for money. I don't put up with it. We are adults. We need to watch and secure our belongings. We need to be aware of what is going on around us. This is true of anywhere you go. As we loose our memory, we need to pay more attention not less. We need to take charge and not expect others to do it for us.

Flamingo wrote:I think there is a certain amount of personal responsibility needed here. The OP was correct in pointing out the mistakes she had made. There is no one in front of SL who hassles me for money. I don't put up with it. We are adults. We need to watch and secure our belongings. We need to be aware of what is going on around us. This is true of anywhere you go. As we loose our memory, we need to pay more attention not less. We need to take charge and not expect others to do it for us.

I agree, it's better to equip yourself to deal with the situation than expect someone else to stop it from happening. For many of us it is a matter of knowing when to stop being polite. When someone is in your space making you feel uncomfortable you don't need to be polite (even you Canadians ). No one bothers me at Superlake either, most of them think I'm insane.

I disagree.........If Pancho's customers base is going to continue to be elderly expats/gringo tourists who speak little to no Spanish then HE needs to look after the problem. I can guarantee you he will get rid of them instantly if his business starts to fail. At this point he doesn't give a crap and until he suffers financially he will continue to do nothing. Anyone who is concerned with this, yet continue to patronize the place will not get any sympathy from me.

Personally I never shopped there as the place is a rip off as soon as you hit the till.

I've been shopping there for 12 years and have never had a single problem. Not one.

I know most of the names of the people who work the parking lot and I call them by name and chat with them on the way in and out and everyone has a laugh and no one ever hassles me. I also have a genuine interest in them as people.

The kids used to swarm me but I've never given them money. A couple of times when they've asked for something I've bought them a piece of fruit or a yogurt.

I thought the OP expressed a great amount of personal responsibility when she said: "I blame myself for being careless, and for having a handbag with a large opening."

These kids are masters at spotting a mark. Don't be one. If you are alert, paying attention, are aware of them and let them know you are aware, they leave you alone. They are looking for the frail, distracted, and/or timid person. Do not be that person. If you can not be that person shop with someone who is and stay close to them.

And.........why would anyone want to go shopping under those conditions. Go figure???

Sorry, CBob. As a woman, I have gone through life alert, paying attention and being aware of what is happening around me. I don't do that so I can shop at SuperLake. I do that wherever I am. That is why some of the other women and I on here have never had a problem at SuperLake. Just as you wouldn't have a problem there because you are a relatively young, tall, fit man.

Ms.Thang wrote:...most of them think I'm insane.

The Transitos think that of me now.

Lady Otter Latté wrote:Sorry, CBob. As a woman, I have gone through life alert, paying attention and being aware of what is happening around me. I don't do that so I can shop at SuperLake. I do that wherever I am. That is why some of the other women and I on here have never had a problem at SuperLake. Just as you wouldn't have a problem there because you are a relatively young, tall, fit man.

Well I guess everything is A-OK at SuperLake then.......carry on.

I see both sides, but agree with Bob.

CanuckBob wrote:I disagree.........If Pancho's customers base is going to continue to be elderly expats/gringo tourists who speak little to no Spanish then HE needs to look after the problem. I can guarantee you he will get rid of them instantly if his business starts to fail. At this point he doesn't give a crap and until he suffers financially he will continue to do nothing. Anyone who is concerned with this, yet continue to patronize the place will not get any sympathy from me.

Personally I never shopped there as the place is a rip off as soon as you hit the till.

Agree 100% Bob! Super Thief has nothing I can't live without or find at many other Tiendas. Been here 19 yr's and doing fine without the chaos, madness and ripoff prices. I just drive by and smile!

The parking lot alone is enough of a turnoff to make me avoid the place as much as possible.

Superlake has Bok Choy. That is all, Bok Choy. I frequent the meat market there more than the grocery store. Who owns that place? There are more businesses there than the grocery store. They can all point at each other and expect the other one to do something.

Cow plop draws flies as rich appearing gringos draw thieves. If you must frequent the place, park a block away and walk.

OMG we have become TOB.

zenwoodle wrote:OMG we have become TOB.

Yes, this discussion sounds a lot like TOB. The OP was very reasonable. She reminded us not to be foolish. Pay the bagger to carry your groceries to the car or signal one of the parkers. Give them a few pesos.

Pancho has his own problems watching the expats shoplift inside the store. That's why he installed the cameras and posted the signs all over. One of my own friends spent the night in jail in Chapala after shoplifting one two many times. Pancho tries to ignore the occasional elderly theft but he does have a business to run.

"...I hope I die before I get old!"

Luisa wrote:Pancho has his own problems watching the expats shoplift inside the store. That's why he installed the cameras and posted the signs all over. One of my own friends spent the night in jail in Chapala after shoplifting one two many times. Pancho tries to ignore the occasional elderly theft but he does have a business to run.

So true! I feel sorry for Pancho having to deal with all the entitled gringos and all their bs and complaints. Not to mention their shoplifting! No matter what he is paid to run that store, it couldn't be enough to have to deal with us and our rude comments etc. I like Pancho a lot (and he's one of the hardest working people I've ever known), and his dad and his sister. Good peeps, all of them.

One day I was in line behind a foreign woman, wearing the t-shirt of a noted local gringo business, when I looked up she actually had her hand in the till. I smacked her hand and the cashier yelped. I said "What are you doing?" and with a thick Texas drawl she said "I only want change and she won't give it to me!" The cashier said "I can't give you change!". She withdrew her hand and I mentioned to her that sometimes we just don't get what we want in life. She gave me a dirty look and stomped off to the parking lot in a huff.

I would not want to deal with the likes of us on a daily basis for any amount of money! Some of us are real a$$wipes.

Amen, Trailrunner!
The OP  related an unfortunate experience, what she learned from it and was a calm, reasoned person. Before we knew it, there is a call for a boycott of SuperLake and you are either for it or agin it. People who merely want to buy their bok chop and Twizzlers are now akin to moral degenerates.
Put down the torches and pitchforks, people. It is just a market run by a man who puts up with all sorts of crap to keep cranky, old expats in the products they crave.
Some of you ARE sounding like TOB crankophiles. Settle down.

And don't forget men; any man who carries his wallet in a back pocket, is inviting a pickpocket, plus, by sitting on it for hours on end, especially on a hard surface, it throws the spine out of alignment.

Put a large rubber band around the wallet; it makes it more difficult so slide out of a pocket unless you put your whole hand around it.

Since the day I came to Mx, my wallet is always in a front pants pocket.

And I have had my Gypsy encounter in Rome; score was Clueless 1, Gypsy 0

Nailed it, L.O.L.! I'm amazed at the underlying anger or resentment or whatever it is that causes people to express such vile comments regarding SuperLake. If a grocery store can illicit this much anger in a person, I'd hate to think what would happen to you if you got cancer maimed in a car crash or something. THAT is something to be angry about!

One poster on this thread actually joined just so he/she could slam Pancho and SL.

Be kind to Pancho, it's likely to be a hard year for him and his family.

IT'S A FRIGGIN' GROCERY STORE!!! Get over it.

Shoplifting??
That's one crime you don't see or hear about much in Guadalajara,strange.
Here you do have to watch out for the "conejeros", they rob people who have just withdrawn cash from a bank and there are the moto bandits.

IMO, any foreigner with enough income to live here without a job is a worthless puddle of pond slime if he or she stoops to shoplifting at a local business. Were these people raised by pigs?

I hate the parking lot situation since some of the drivers are downright dangerous as well as rude, but have nothing against Pancho. He's just trying to support his family as best he can.

Some people who shoplift are sick , it is part of a mental illness..I was just told of an artists in Chiapas who is from one of the wealthiest family there and she shoplifts of course daddy keeps her out of jail and it really not doing her any favor. SHe needs to see the inside of a jail for a few days and maybe she will learn something...

I do not like the parking lot at SL either  but the store has products that woud take me a while and maybe trips to Guadalajara to get so I am thankful they are there not resentful.
In Chiapas I miss them a lot, of course we can do without them but in my opinion they are a plus and people do not have to go there if they do not like them. I think it is uncall for to call them Super Thief like a poster did. Id you do not like the prices shop somewhere else. People are in business to make money not to serve any need expats have at a discounted price..

no one is forced to shop there. its imported goods so pay a premium. if you want it you have to pay for it.park in one of the other streets close by if you dont like the car park. simples !

gringal wrote:IMO, any foreigner with enough income to live here without a job is a worthless puddle of pond slime if he or she stoops to shoplifting at a local business.  Were these people raised by pigs?

Senior expats shoplifting in Mexico,that's just plain nuts...