Emirati Life: The scary side of always feeling so safe

For better or worse, living abroad has taught me to stay on guard.

Shocked, vulnerable, violated and furious.

These are the emotions I recall feeling each time I got robbed while living in the US.

Initially, I would feel disbelief that I, rather than someone I'd heard about through family, friends or the media, was the victim of this injustice.

It took me time to realise and admit that my car stereo, camera and sports equipment were not misplaced but missing when my car was broken into the first time.

The second and third time someone entered my vehicle uninvited, the realisation I was a victim came much faster, and the helplessness and anger were quick to follow.

Having my room plundered by neighbourhood teenagers, and my wallet deftly lifted on a bus by an apparently friendly passenger, were another two of the numerous times I have had to relive the dreadful experience of being robbed.

Not merely an inconvenience, these incidents instil fear through the awareness of possible repetition and the danger of confronting a perpetrator in action.

This understanding caused me to constantly close doors and windows at my residence.

When I moved back to the UAE, I did import these habits, but the country's secure environment has made them almost useless.

Through my family's and friends' behaviour, I routinely saw front doors left open throughout the day, empty cars left idling in the street, and wallets, phones, hand bags and purses abandoned on restaurant chairs or tables.

But to my visiting friends, the astonishment that these actions had never resulted in a theft seemed almost unbelievable.

"This is the first time I've travelled outside the States and have not had to worry about being mugged," said a surprised and relieved visiting friend.

Gradually, my guard was lowered, too.

I stopped checking to see if doors were locked, taking my valuables from the car, hiding large notes from plain view and keeping my wallet and phone on me at all times. Once, I even managed to leave my not-so-empty wallet on a store counter only to come back and find it being safeguarded for me.

Although much of life can be lived crime-free in the UAE, the problem with living in such a safe environment is that residents are ill prepared to venture into more dangerous territories.

During my so far brief European visit, I have been warned by locals of actions that draw attention to me.

Careless actions I have been guilty of include taking large notes out in the open, leaving my wallet in my back pocket rather than the front and standing in a crowded place with my backpack on my back. Although I had learnt all of these lessons before, they had ceased being second nature because of the security enjoyed in the UAE.

A quick refresher on my past experience as crime victim could help me arrive in a foreign land better prepared.

Or perhaps exercising caution on a regular basis in the UAE could ingrain those tendencies once again.

But it would be a real shame not to take advantage of living in a society where it is safe to let your guard down.