So I was in New Orleans for Mardi Gras and I was getting all geared up a couple days beforehand. I knew I needed some killer Mardi Gras accessories and I knew just the place to get them. However, I ended up wasting a lot of time, as tends to happen in New Orleans, and by the time I was ready to go to the store it was getting late.

“Careful,” one of my friends told me, “There’s a lot of crime in this city.”

That there is, but it wasn’t going to stop me. I put my wallet in my pocket, checked directions online, and strode down the street like a boss. It was already dark out and some of the streets I was on were not the safest. I did my best to stay away from strangers and keep to well-lit areas, but as I went down one street someone stepped out of a dark doorway right in front of me.

Suddenly all the bad stuff I’d been told about being a tourist in New Orleans came back to me. I looked down and saw that the guy had a knife. He told me to give him my wallet. I tried to look him in the face but the street light was behind him so he was all silhouette. Fumbling, I reached into my pocket and gave him my wallet. He took off running. I waited till he was gone, and then I started laughing my ass off. I always carry a decoy wallet in New Orleans. My money was in the money clip in my back pocket.