Pickpockets Mourn the End of an Era

Once upon a time, pickpockets were somewhat revered for their craft. Or, at least according to former pickpockets. There were even schools where they could sharpen their skills. But surveillance technology and the widespread use of credit cards caught up with them, and pickpocketing has been on a steady decline for the last 20 or so years.

Looking back, pickpockets were the good guys (sort of)! Former pickpocket Sherman "O.T." Powell spoke to NPR about the difference between pickpockets and other criminals:

"Pickpockets have no respect for thugs or robbers," he says. "We consider them ancient. Prehistoric. We feel that anybody can stick a gun in a person's face — that's not hard to do. But to take a person's money and them not knowing it's gone — that's the art of it. That's the cleverness of it."

So true. We need to show a little respect for this dying art. But there is still hope for the aspiring pickpocket! Europe — where the craft's decline has been far slower — is still fairly wide open. From Slate:


Problem solved. If you're a pickpocket who's down on his or her luck, just head overseas where the hunting is still good. Who wants dollars these days anyway?