on my last trip to Pparis, I was approached by a wholesome looking young woman asking me to sign a petition for the blind (around here it's common for young people with petitions)
I was about to sign when a French man nearby shook his head at me to say,no,no..
She didn't look like a gypsy but she was. Today some one wrote that these girls are back in full force around the Pompidou.. while you sign, another girl tries to steal from you.

Oh yes, these petition people are out in force now! We ignored a LOT of them just last month. Very pushy people. I forget what all the petitions were about, but there were a lot of them, especially around the foot bridge crossing the Seine near the Louvre.

I can't imagine being tricked by the so-called petition people. Absolutely any legitimate petition will be at a table with people sitting there asking people to sign. Obviously, petitions concern only local residents. Tourists are absolutely useless for real petitions. (I signed a petition the other day requesting Carla Bruni to reimburse the money that her 'foundation' stole from the government.)

Anybody walking about with a clipboard petition anywhere in the world is a crook. Anyway, most petitions are now done on line.

exactly, I have been approached by someone in Paris about a petition or something a few years ago, I speak French, but when they found out I wasn't a local resident, they said that I couldn't sign. It was some local initiative or something, I forget.

Signing a petition from someone on the street about the blind sounds pointless anyway, why would anyone do such a thing, that doesn't even make sense in a foreign country that you'd be signing a petition about something like that. Again, it is amazing to me how many tourists engage with random strangers on the street approaching them asking for == you name it. Just dumb.

The trick here in NL at the moment is for someone to ask you something, then thank you profusely and hug you. Any necklace is gone, and quite often stuff from your bag too. They do seem to be targeting the elderly but it is worth being aware of it.

it's quite common here for petitions in the street not at tables. I dislike the ones that come to the door,
like Massspirg.andno they are not crooks legitimate whether to sign for bike lanes or political issues.

I ran into the petition thing outside Gare du Nord, but I'd heard it was a scam so I said no and walked away very quickly.

I also had someone try the ring scam on me, once, on the same trip. Said no to that one, too. Really, do I look like I wear gold rings? I don't even own one.

Harvard Square is full of petitioners, legit and not. I always tell them I am Canadian.

<i>Tourists are absolutely useless for real petitions.</i>

Generally true. However, Marqueyssac, in the Dordogne, had a petition that was meant to be signed by visitors of all stripes against putting a straight road in the Dordogne valley to ease up congestion.

A month ago I was sitting in a train at Gare de Lyon, waiting for departure, when a young man pushed a petition in my face. And I do mean in my face, enough that I could barely see his other hand heading for my handbag. A loud physical reaction sent him scampering, along with his associate who was either the hand-off or decoy. No damage done, but certainly brazen and annoying.

On our trip there in October, the petitioners were out in force esp all around the areas near Les Halles. We kept our distance. And only now do I realize that they were always in groups of 2, altho I did not think anything of that at the time. Multiple groups of 2 were scattered all around. I always walked w/my bag under my cross-body under my coat, something I also do routinely in NYC. Whenever one is traveling, it is easy to become distracted and so the bag under my coat is one less thing to think about!

Bad editing above, sorry! Of course it should be "my cross-body BAG under my coat".

I was approached in Barcelona..ignored it.
Even if I do , I say I don't understand,
And , I don't speak English!

I've only found these people in big italian cities where their usual tactic is to ask if we speak english, to which DH's stock reply, is no, Cornish, which usually puzzles them enough for us to make our escape.

I was also approached when i was with my italian teacher in a little visited part of Tuscany, and she immediately started to talk to them, and was surprised when I pulled her away, to the curses of the "petitioner". it was only when i pointed out that if they were really on charitable work they wouldn't have sworn at me that she got it.

You should not sign a petition for anything in any country in which you are not a citizen.

<i>You should not sign a petition for anything in any country in which you are not a citizen.</i>

Ironclad rules re made to be broken.

re = are