NYC Safe?

Walking around without direction has come to be a pasttime of mine. However, in unknown territory it requires more attention to surroundings and using that peripheral vision. In the streets of Barcelona, wandering aimlessly, I end up near the water. In the distance I see a group of kids, about JHS age, just hanging around like kids would in a park. My attention goes to some cars driving by and boats in the marina. I turn back around to take a picture of the kids, when one of the girls, about 12, comes up to me with a clipboard. She points to something in English on the paper, and it looks like a petition. Not really caring, I sign some random name, when I notice there´s 5 more kids near me. I had forgotten that in almost every city I have been to in the Eastern hemisphere has this same social flaw. It´s the groups of kids you should be watching out for more than anything else. But chalk one up for the old people. Some old guy you would probably avoid in NY because he would be muttering to himself, comes along and starts yelling at the kids. The kids are pissed off, but start to leave. One tries to grab my camera, but as soon as I feel the tug, POOF, there´s the old guy behind the kid sticking his foot out to trip the kid. The kid let go and all the pack returned to their original area. I have no idea of what to make of all that except that it woke me up. I´ve always been on guard, especially the last time I came to Europe. I can usually spot the signs ahead of time, but I was utterly defeated this round. It makes me think of how I don´t see packs of little kids preying on tourists in NYC, or at least in my lifetime I have not witnessed it there. Thank you to that random old dude. When we started walking in the opposite direction of the kids, we parted ways. He looked at me, and shook a ´no-no´ finger.

Barcelona Day 1