raveling with Valuables

ome time ago Baron Von Lodge was the head of a small country near Switzerland known as Lilliland.

Lilliland was a desirable location for many tourists and people who enjoyed the many activities that Lilliland had to offer. Outdoor activities included sailing, horseback riding, skiing, and tennis, plus many interesting shops in which to browse.

Because Lilliland was so popular with tourists, it was also, unfortunately, popular with pickpockets and robbers. The Lilliland police were very active in keeping a place that was safe and secure.

But no matter how hard the security force tried, there were always some thieves that tried to interrupt an otherwise beautiful vacation.

Professor Hamblin, the Baron’s chief advisor, tried to go one step further in protecting the guests and visitors to Lilliland.

Stated quite simply, he suggested that tourists leave their valuable jewelry at home in a safe and secure place and go to a jeweler and buy fake costume jewelry. It looked like the real thing but the jewelry was basically paste and cheap shiny plated metal.

If a thief grabbed the jewelry from an unsuspecting tourist and ran off with it, he might be fooled into thinking that he had stolen something expensive worth hundreds of dollars. But when he would go to fence it, he would quickly learn that he risked a long prison sentence for something worthless.

The tourists were saddened at being victimized, but glad that the real and valuable jewelry was safely locked up at home.

Many times the thief was caught and sentenced to prison. Often Professor Hamblin wanted to think that when his prison sentence was over, the thief would lead a different, more productive life.

Some thieves ask why should the victim care when most of the jewelry was insured and they got their money back? But he was mistaken, because some of the jewelry was an heirloom given to one relative and passed down to another for several generations. The thief broke this succession and this was something precious that money could not buy.