Well, the big news this last week here in Buenos Aires has been the story of the visiting twin daughters of President Bush. It seems they were sitting at a bar in a restaurant in San Telmo, a popular tourist area, and Barbara’s purse was stolen from under the bar.
The embarrassing part is that there were half a dozen Secret Service types just a few feet away.
The First Lady had no comment. The US Embassy here in Buenos Aires had no comment. The Argentine/Buenos Aires government had no comment.
I mean, really–what is there to say? These things can happen whether you have people “watching the crowd” for you or not.
When it comes down to it, Barbara wasn’t paying attention. And we shouldn’t get too hoity toity about it because most of us–myself included–have experienced something similar.
The unfortunate part is that it is big news. It makes San Telmo sound terrible, Buenos Aires sound dangerous, and the Secret Service guys sound incompetent.
It reminded me of something that happened to my 20-something cousin in Seattle a week or two ago. He and his girlfriend were planning a months-long trip to Asia. On the night before they left, they attended a going-away dinner at a friend’s house. After the party, they went out to the car to find that Mike’s backpack–with his money and passport inside–had been stolen.
My husband couldn’t resist sending him an email saying something like, “I read in the guidebook that Seattle can be quite dangerous!”
Fortunately, Mike’s situation worked out well and–there ARE travel miracles!!–he showed up at the passport office the next morning, got a new passport and made his flight just in time.
Of course, Mike isn’t the son of the US President, so nobody made a big deal out of it. We shouldn’t make a big deal out of Barbara’s missing credit cards/cell phone, either.
But I have to say I can’t help but calculate how much it must be costing the US taxpayers to fly Secret Service agents to Buenos Aires, feed them, put them in decent hotels etc. for several weeks. Are there limits to this kind of protection? I don’t know, and it’s not that I think the Bush twins should be off wandering on the own in foreign countries, but it’s funny that absolutely NOBODY recognized them–despite the guys with dark glasses and earpieces. They just looked like any other tourists in San Telmo, and as such, they were subject to the same rules–you don’t pay attention, and you might get your purse stolen.
Big deal.
In terms of security for the presidential progeny, it appears that it is quite hit or miss. To read about how lax it’s been on one hand and how ridiculously theatrical on the other, read this bit from a reporter who easily walked up to Barbara in her hotel lobby: http://tinyurl.com/ydt472
I guess if I were celebrating my 25th birthday and wanted to do it in a fun, interesting, beautiful place with a lot of hot 20-something culture (clubs, parties, restaurants) far from home, it would be hard to beat Buenos Aires. I’m glad the First Daughters have had a chance to visit this city and do it in a way that is, despite the Secret Service attempts to “protect” them, surprisingly normal–purse-snatching included.
More than wordpress blogs, it appears. And though wordpress is great in some ways, it’s not great in others. Live and learn.
