My iPhone Turned Into THEIR Phone.

By Shamaria Massenburg

Upon arriving in London, I was extremely excited. I had traveled in Europe before, but never to London! For a travel vlogger like myself, the possibilities were endless! Once our group arrived at the hotel—we only had about two hours until our first group dinner, but after such a long flight—I knew that if I showered and lay down, I would fall asleep and miss dinner. I also didn’t want to waste a second, did I mention I’m a travel vlogger? Be that as it may— I had written down several places to go to, in the event that I had free time. Although I love traveling, I have since learned that you should not plan out every minute of the trip, so instead, I just wrote down places that I would like to go. First up on the list was Zara. Zara is my favorite clothing store and is extremely popular in Europe. We don’t have one in Kansas, so whenever I travel—Zara is always my first stop! However, I didn’t want to just find any regular Zara, I needed to do research first. So, I did what most kids my age do, I opened TikTok. All I had to do was type in “London Zara,” and immediately found a plethora of results. The very first video that caught my eye read “Four-Story Zara in London.” Even though there was a Zara about 8 minutes away from our hotel, I had already decided that I had to see this four-story Zara, and what better time to do that than a 2-hour gap? So, I quickly showered to rid myself of the airport stench and called an Uber to the four-story Zara that was roughly 15 minutes away. Once I arrived I immediately began picking up things that looked nice to me. I was on a bit of a time crunch at this point, so I had no intention of trying anything on. However, within 10 minutes of being there, I had both of my hands full with clothing items and was frantically going up and down the escalators trying to make sure I’d seen everything. After going up and down the escalators a few times—I realized I was acting like a kid in a candy store, and I needed to be realistic. It was only the first day and it wouldn’t really be smart to spend over $100 in Zara on the first day when I hadn’t yet explored London. So, I decided I would put back at least 2-3 items.

It may not sound like much, but this took a lot of strength and restraint. I went up and down the escalator a few times—trying to place a few items back in the section that I found them in. Once I did that, I analyzed the items that I still had, and to no surprise—my hands were still very full. Keeping an eye on the clock, I decide to try on these items anyway, because I definitely did not want to have to return anything or waste any time. I dreadfully walked to the back of a very long line and began to wait. As I was waiting—I was texting a few friends back home, while trying to hold all of the clothing items in my hand. As I’m texting with one hand, and holding a pile of clothes in the other, a few things begin to fall. I quickly threw my phone into my raincoat pocket and picked up the clothes that had fallen. Once I picked them up, I reached back into my pocket to finish sending a message, and to my surprise, it was gone. As if it had just disappeared.

I obviously was aware of the very known stereotype about thieves in Europe, especially as it pertains to Americans—but, still, a part of me refused to believe that I had been that naive. I mean, I did have a hand full of clothes, it could’ve been lost in there, or in my fanny pack, or in the first jacket that I had put to wear up under my raincoat. As I am trying not to panic, the line is moving, so I am trying to walk forward to keep my place in line, but also so that I don’t draw too much attention to myself. I was certain that my eyes were playing tricks on me. Before I knew it, it was my turn to go into a dressing room. I looked at the worker before going in and said “if someone tells you they found a phone will you please let me know?” “What?!” She exclaimed. I repeated myself and told her that I was just standing in line when my phone disappeared. “Oh well, then it’s gone. Someone stole it,” the worker says as she rushes me into a dressing stall. I was then tasked with figuring out which metro to get on to go back to the hotel. Which, was not in the plans at all–because if it were, I wouldn’t have taken an Uber! However, looking back–I’m sure I’ll laugh about this one day. But, that day is not today. As I have still been without a phone for 3 weeks now.

Shayla is a third year senior at KU from Riverton, Kansas, studying English and Creative Writing and minoring in Journalism. She enjoys puzzles, video games, walking, and cooking. Her favorite part of visiting London was trying a variety of foods and seeing many amazing shows and musicals. She also enjoyed visiting the bookstores on Oxford’s campus. After graduation, she plans to pursue a career involving her passion for writing.

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