I managed a few days on the beach before becoming victim of the shit flingers. Actually, I’m quite convinced it’s not shit, but just something that looks nasty enough that you’ll not take a closer look.

Well, if you’ve suffered through my diary you’ll know that one of the bastards got me while I was wearing nylon sandals. I mean, these things don’t have enough material in them to support a dollop of crap.

Wrong.

While I was concentrating on taking a photo of the beach, the bastard snuck up and got me. As I walked away he asked me if I wanted a shine. “A shine? In these?” I looked down and saw what he did. Carefully placed on the intersection of two straps was a blob of something yellowish.

I took off my sandal and he gleefully started scrubbing it clean.



I put the sandal on, thanked him, and walked off without paying. He asked me for money right away. I turned and smiled, “I’ve been here before.” He tried again for some money. “You try that trick on me again and I’ll hit you.” I wasn’t smiling so much and pointed to my closed fist to make sure he got the message. He did his best to look innocent.

I switched to an aggressive stance and raised my voice “Don’t come anywhere near me. If I see you, I’m going to hit you.” He says something about me being loco and tries to dismiss me. “Crazy? You want to see how crazy I am muther-fucker?!” I took my bag off my shoulder and started toward him. He backed off r e a l fast. I kicked his toothbrush off the sidewalk into the beach, “If I see you ...” I turned and walked off. He shouted after me but I kept walking.

Wombat	1
Shit-Flinging Bastards	0

Wombat	2
Shit-Flinging Bastards	0

Wombat	3
Shit-Flinging Bastards	0

Game, set and match.

You are going to get killed if you keep this up. You should stay away from Copa for a year or so. Just my 2cents.

I don't know if you are going to get killed, but I personally wouldn't do this. That being said, I definitely give you credit for having the balls to stand up to them and not be taken for a stupid tourist.

I agree. I know a guy in Dublin who got a broken bottle in the face after telling 2 twelve year olds to stop breaking into a car. Likewise in Rio there always the risk you'll do it to the wrong person. IMO, not worth the aggravation. Simply wipe the shoe yourself and tell the cleaner to get lost. You do seem to be a magnet for them so maybe that explains your frustration. It's happened to me only once in all my trips there.

Wombat:

Thanks for the stroy, and you've certainly got balls.... However, incident 3, where the shitted your shoes and didn't even TRY to scam you into getting them cleaned, shows that you had already gotten yourself marked as "that bastard american" by the local street gang. In other words, he targeted you BECAUSE he knew that you had fougth the other two kids and he just wnated to piss you off. All street toughness aside, I wouldn't want to be targeted as anything but "just another tourist" by the Rio street gangs. Anyway, be careful...

BS

This has got to be one of the all-time great thread titles...

Your lucky the "Rock" lookalike wasnt his big cousin! Your going to end up with a bullet in your ass if you keep doing stupid stuff like this. Remember where you are!!!!!!

If every tourist who gets hit by these bastards get their shoes cleaned and walks away, how long before the shit flinging stops? A couple of weeks? A couple of months? A year maybe?

Hey, if you guys want to get walked on, you have every right to be a victim. Do you check your restaurant tab to see if you've been overcharged? I have. Do you count your change to see if they're ripping you off? It's happened to me. If you don't stand up to the shit flingers, who are you going to stand up to?

Am I putting myself at risk? Sure, but I put myself at risk everywhere I go. So do you. At least here I'm trying to make a difference. It's not for everyone, sure, but keep it in context guys. You don't have to tell me how dangerous Rio can be, but c'mon, it's not the same as it was twenty years ago. Chasing a punk across a busy street is hardly my idea of a vacation passtime, but it sure was a rush at the time! I know that the better policy is to let it go, but man I let a lot of things go.

By the way, these bastards work in teams. One guy flings the shit while his partner moves in for the kill. Yeah, if I was living there I'd approach things differently, but I wasn't in town long enough to be marked.

Now I have to contend with the city flinging salt on my boots ... but I know better than to fight city hall.

Every guy has to pick their own battles. If I was being assaulted, then I would definately try to fight back. In that situation, I think its worth taking the risk that I might be hurt in order to protect myself.

I dont know, maybe your shoes are that important to you, that its worth getting knifed for. If thats the case, more power to you

To me, goo on a shoe ain't worth getting knifed or shot. For those that think it is, I did see the other day where Halliburton is looking for ah, "replacement" employees in exotic locations.

If they are that good with goo...on a sandal no less....imagine how good they would be with a rock to the back of your head??

Actually had one miss my flip flop the other day. Just got a drop or two on the front of the shoe. I looked around, smiled, shook my finger at him and left.

As many here have suggested, you would probably be better off just ignoring the whole thing and accept it as a way of life for visitors to Rio. Save your adrenalin and energy for the Termas. The shit flingers ain't worth the possible repercussions and they work in teams so you may never see their buddies coming up behind you.

Rather see ya back in one piece buddy....

Well said Sandman

Choose your battles wisely!

The only time they got me, I chose to grab the kid's shirt, whip my foot up, and wipe as much of it off as I could on the kids leg...he was less than pleased...but probably not the smartest move - i did spent the next 15 minutes a little paranoid i would pay for that decision the hard way

I kicked the last shitflinger to nail me, back in November. I also cussed him out in Portuguese, which surprised him more than the kick.

So far, in about 65 days in Rio, I've been nailed twice.

I had a 3 weeks stay in RIO last october. I had not read about shit slingers, so when I was first hit on my sneakers I was not aware.
The second time I was hit (incidently the same day) I just smiled and looked wery happy with my "new shoes" as the boy asked "shoe shine?"
I walked off and the shoe shining boy looked confused. I walked 100 metres and got a napkin and cleanded it my self.
I can only smile of the ingenuity these poor kids come up with for money scams and if nothing else you gotta admire the skills of shit slinging :-)
never the less - I have paid my last Reais for a shoe shine ...

Some son a of bitch did the same thing to me in 2005. it was second time in Rio. I had just arrive from the airport and checked into my hotel and took a walk to the Blockbuster ATM to exchange some cash. I decide to take the scenic view back to the hotel on Atlantica. Stopped at a cabana and got a drink. Next thing I know while I was paying for the drink, this guy gets in my face saying something about"Shit on your shoe" I look down and there is a big blob of crap on my leather loafers. He says "sit down in chair and me fix it for you". Not knowing any better I sat down and and after he polished my shoe asked for 100R. I said hell no and took out my wallet and offered him 20R. He reached for my wallet and grabbed about 1,000R and $300.00 USD and started running. I ran after him screaming that he was a dead man if I caught him. I got within 2 arm lengths from him and he threw my US dollars on the ground but handed the Reals to his buddy on the beach who made a break for it over the sand dune. This was the first day of my second trip to Rio! What a way to start your Rio vacation by some asshole stealing your mongering money. I could have had a festa with that money. At least I got the US Money back! Somebody later told me that the thug could probably live for about 2 months on 1,000R.

Lick, WTF are you walking around Rio with that much cash on you? Were you sporting a Rolex too?

Elgran,

There are a hell of a lot more guys in Rio like Lick then there are like the vets on this board.

One, none of us would pay a shit flinger a centavo. Two, if I was to have my shoes cleaned, a couple of Reals would do the trick. As far as opening a wallet in front of a tout or just about anyone else in Copa, that's always a bad idea. Finally, carrying that much cash? I guess next time he'll know not to carry that much and if, for whatever reason, he has to, maybe he'll keep it in small bundles in his pockets, shoes, etc.

I only wear flip-flops in Rio..

Never happened to me in almost 4 years.

I'm not pointing any fingers here, but if you guys tried to blend in a little better and stopped looking like gringos waiting to be plucked off, you wouldn't have all these problems.

Dood,

The shit flickers absolutely love Cole-Haan tassel loafers. A pair of them on my feet
attracts them like flies on shit.

I would wear flip-flop sandals as you strongly suggest, but they always trip me up somehow. I have exactly the same problem with slippers.

Jag

I almost got hit by the shitflingers today. It's really slow in Rio, and they're getting desperate. I saw the first guy walk by and pretend to dig in the trash can, but strangly enough, he missed my shoe and dropped the mix about six inches in front of me. The toe of my tennis shoes got a little on the bottom, and the first flinger started running when he saw that I saw him. Amazingly, the cleaner still came up to me about 20 yards further. I wiped most off on his leg, then walked up to Don's office........WHERE THE DUMB MOTHERFUCKERS CAME BY TO EAT FREE FOOD PUT OUT BY SHOP BESIDE DON'S!!!!!! Please see the pic published in the SA chat thread. The cleaner for me was the dickhead in the yellow jersey, the actual flinger the asshole to his immediate right.

Dear Cat,

I almost half-expected to see you in the photo, dinning with the flickers and celebrating their good fortune.

When I called Don today he was really pissed that all the fucking street urchins were celebrating and dinning right next door to his office. Apparently he wasn't in the holiday mood and my phone call didn't seem to lighten his spirits one bit, which is usually the case. Shit, social malcontents have to eat somewhere, don't they? Why complain, after all it's Christmas and we should help those less fortunate. I would love to help each one of those bastards into jail.

Merry Christmas my friend,

Jag

Jag,

I was sitting next to Don when you called and it was a strange scene, about every tout and favela rat was rolling in for the free grub. There was a lighter vendor walking around with the rest of the touts. I spoke with him briefly and he mentioned he was branching out to include cigar cutters, since he had made an absolute shitload of money the past six months or so and had more than enough to reinvest in the business. It's a fine Christmas at the lighter tout's casa

Cat,

I made that fucking Chinese vendor rich this year by purchasing at least two lighters each trip. Every time he sold me a God damn lighter he grinned at me, but I mistakenly thought that only meant something when Brazilians grinned at you. Apparently, you're being taken whenever anyone grins at you south of the Equator.

Jag