Theft

Well, I'm in Vienna again, (finally) preparing for my visit to the University tomorrow. I took the last bus from Eisenstadt at 19:30, which left me with two hours to kill before Martin finished his band practice. I decided to go drink a beer and dive into my copy of "American Short Stories" borrowed from Alexa. Before executing said plan, I went to the Bankomat (ATM) and took out €30. I arrived at my preferred cosy locale in the 8th district, ordered a beer, and drifted off into the stories for about an hour and a half. The other patrons hardly entered my consciousness, aside from two young men speaking an eastern european language looking for a table. I momentarily thought of offering them space at mine, as I was alone at a table for five, but decided not to as the establishment wasn't full. After finishing my beer perhaps an hour later, I went to pay, only to find that my wallet was devoid of cash. Confused, I told the waitress that I needed to look for a moment. I searched my pockets and backpack in vain, and distinctly recalled placing the three €10 bills into my wallet. I told her what happened and left the remains of my purse in her posession (a deposit of sorts) as I went to the Bankomat once again. She mentioned the presence of the strange young men, and said they had left in a hurry immediately after requesting the menu. What I don't understand, but am thankful for, is why they didn't just take the whole damn wallet. All of my cards (none of them credit, OK) are still there, thankfully. I'm just angry that I wasn't more vigilant. I had my wallet in my coat, which was draped over the chair on which I was sitting. Well... at least it was only 30 bucks... I guess... in the future I will be sure to keep my valuables somewhere out of reach. Sometimes we small-town boys have a few lessons to learn from the metropoli.

I fear I may be slowly acquiring the Austrian xenophobia as well, since I am tempted to blame those eastern-bloc bastards' entire half-continent. A bit ironic for a stranger in a strange land...