Originally Posted by
Reindeerflame
On my first day in Buenos Aires, I was "sprayed" by someone in one of those incidents in which the goal is apparently either to distract and engage in theft, or possibly to earn a gratuity by assisting in cleanup. This occurred in the park area overlooking the English Statue not too far from Retiro station. (this apparently happens all over the place, not just in Argentina, but this is the first time it's ever happened to me).
This also happened to us near the Hilton at Puerto Madero. When a man at the bus stop, quite some distance away, called out to us to point it out I pegged him for the perp and yelled "No, keep back, stay back" and waving my arms even though he was at least 50 feet away and totally alone. He shouted something like be careful, and did that two fingers at the side of the eye warning about thieves. He was a good guy, so I thanked him and appreciated his concern. So what the heck, we walked around the rest of the day with the signs of silly tourist on our backs and no one seemed to notice.
Strangely, John the concierge had just warned Mr. lili to be careful about people wanting to wash your clothes which made no sense to him, since he thought the concierge meant taking them to the laundromat rather than rubbing the mess off your jacket.
Old scam, but first time for me also. I'm glad they were socially responsible and used something that was easy to remove, rather than ketchup or mustard.
Buenos Aires is a great destination, but it's good to stay alert. Ah, there's also that woven string around the wrist game that I don't think they know there yet. Just watched about 6 people fall for that one last week in Paris.
Don't play the shell game either, which I've seen in the relatively sophisticated city of Berlin.
Good luck and enjoy your visit!