The Mobile Mugger Blues

Three weeks ago, while out on trip to the library with my mom in broad daylight, we were mug by two guys. The one tried and failed to grab my mom handbag, while his partner manage to hank, with some force my (please note) not so new mobile phone from me.

It was not his lucky day though, I ran after him for two blocks, yelling and screaming as I went that, someone should stop him, and a few good hearted Samaritans, that heard my frantic clatter, helped me to corner him. I walk right up to him and took my phone out of his hand.

Now even though I got my phone back, imagine my anger to hear today that mobile phone companies have had to ability for ages, to render a stolen phone inoperable, but never did it, simple because they where making money off these hot phones. The criminal that steals the phone or the person he sells it to, still buys prepaid credit and so remains a valued customer, criminal or not.

These companies, who make billions anyway, sat back and watch people get mugged, shot at, stab and murdered, just because they didn’t want to loose a lousy bunch of corrupted mobile users.

So now I’m not entirely happy to hear that they suddenly decided to now instate this policy. It is just too little, too late. If they had done it sooner, maybe I would not have had to go through, the traumatic experience of having been mug for an ancient mobile phone.