fortunately the coffee didn´t slip and spill on her child´s face.

no reason to have coffee almost boiling from machines outside your own home.

there needs to be a logical CAP on lawsuits. what people are awarded is ludicrous, and one day might actually destroy a moral concept one might have of justice and society.

getting back to OP.

so sorry you were robbed. had same experience in brussels station. we kept our things in close, refused their help with the kleenex to clean it up, shouted them away from us... they looked at us like we were racists.

but these thugs didn´t give up on us and followed us onto to the train and tried it AGAIN en route to the airport.. first my coat.. then my husband´s.

amazing system they have. needless to say, once we got into the terminal, we were quite upset, gooey.. and fed up with the idea of thieves. it is so frustrating. and they are SO, SO fast.

It is not often I agree with Girlspytravel (just because my opinion differs from her's doesn't necessarily make either of us wrong), but I agree with her about the hot coffee.

McD had been warned, and had taken the view that the advantages of selling scalding coffee outweighed those of being taken to court.

fmpden - the only one who has made "stupid" statements in this thread is you. Anyway, I'm glad to see there were more than a few people in this thread who have a REAL worldly view. Just stay inside your box with your blinders on...

fmpden, Unfortunately, outrageous lawsuits have taken place. However, what the press often reports is the "worst of the worst" to get attention for their station/channel/network! I am sure other countries have a small segment of their population who could shame their country as well! You should look past the sensationalism of the press and get to know people as individuals!

glk11b, As others have said, don't look for someone else to blame. It is not the hotels fault! EVERYONE needs to take personal responsibility and realize that unfortunate incidents occur. However, I AM sorry that this happened to you. Look at the positive side of things: you have become more aware of what can happen and will be more prepared in the future. Your misfortune might help you help others to avoid this scam...So, thank you for the post.

<<YOU aren't the ones listening to the evidence and examining it- THE JURY does that-YOU only get the sensationalist headlines-and WHATEVER the press thinks you OUGHT >>

Regardless of whether you are right or wrong about the McD lawsuit, I wish you would stop with the all cap words. I feel like you're screaming at us.

You don't need to resort to all caps to make your point.

Thanks. That's my rant for the day.

Back to my original inflammatory statement: that there are two types of tourists--those who have been robbed and those who will be robbed.

I guess I should apologize to those of you who have not yet been robbed. However, I am unrepentant.

I've traveled numerous times (and lived for a time) in Europe since 1965. It was really my own fault the time I left the camp stove on the floor of the back seat of my car in Amsterdam. I suspect that someone saw my American forces plate and thought I probably had stuff in my car. They figured out how to unlock my car to remove the stove.

They also saw my plates in Florence. That time the stuff was in my trunk, and they got through that lock, too. Fortunately they didn't realized that this VW 1500 sedan had a trunk in front, too, or I would have lost it all. Both events took place in the 60's.

In Barcelona, in 2004, a clever thief pretending to be a waiter got away with my sister's purse as we sat at dinner in an outdoor restaurant. She didn't even know her purse was gone until I saw the guy hot-footing it away from the restaurant.

In Madrid and in Rome in recent years, attempts were made--once to pick pocket and once to put a hand in my purse, but I yelled at them and they stopped.

Of course, thievery happens at home as well. I've had minor articles stolen from my car at home, in both Sacramento and Spokane, when I was careless enough not to lock it. The most recent was that someone siphoned gas out of my car when I forgot to close the garage door.

None of the European crimes were violent, and I can't imagine that anyone who wants to travel will be deterred by my warning. Every guide book I've ever read has warnings about this kind of thing.

Well - now I understand your attitude.

But as a life-long New Yorker - and someone who has been to europe 70+ times - I've never met anyone who has been robbed/had things stolen so many times. (Even my friend who walks around with her purse hanging wide open on the subway at rush hour hasn;t been robbed this often.)

Do you think it might have something to do with your actions - or lack thereof (not locking car, leaving items in plain view etc)?

Granted, no one is supposed to steal anything. But knowing how many theives there are - wouldn;t it be a better idea to try to do something to prevent it?

NYtraveler,

My thoughts exactly! Not that it can't happened to any of us..but I know that my friends and I take every precaution while traveling or anywhere else...everyone's motto should be "don't make it easy for anyone to take your belongings"

Yes, leaving the camp stove in view, even though it was on the floor of the back of the car, was a mistake, and as I said, my own fault. However, the car was locked in both Amsterdam and Florence. In Florence, nothing was visible, but both times I had American Forces licence plates--which I think made my car a target.

I did forget to lock my car here in Spokane when the gas was siphoned and the time in Sacramento when someone stole my diet Pepsis and a flashlight. My own fault both those times. You'd think I could leave my car unlocked outside my own house when it didn't contain anything valuable. You would, however, be wrong.

In Europe, I'm so careful I'm almost paranoid--thus I foiled the little girls in Rome who tried to pick my pocket/purse--or whatever they were up to. Ditto with the woman in Madrid who pawed at my purse. It may be that I look approachable because of my age--I'm 71. The incidents in Rome, Madrid and in Barcelona, when my sister's purse was stolen, have all happened in the past five years.

"in Barcelona, when my sister's purse was stolen>>

And where was her purse when the thief got away with it? Barcelona is notorious for theft so you should have been forewarned.

If you must carry a purse you have to ensure its security at all times. Don't hook it over a chair or put it on a table or the floor while dining. You have to follow the adage to be aware of your surroundings at all times.

And yes, you need to lock your car at everywhere, even in front of your house.

I think your statement should be amended to "careless travelers will be robbed," but even that is an exaggeration.

She says her purse was on her lap.