Prophet of Doom

My bike was upside down and I was oiling the chain when he rode by.  Tall, skinny and sad, shouting that they would take my stuff.  "They'll take it you know, they'll take parts of it."
I gathered he referred to my bicycle which I tied to a nearby stop sign for the last few nights.  His last words as he rode away were an insistent "They will!"
It was my first encounter with a veritable prophet of doom riding a bicycle in the evening light!
The nebulous "They" are accused of a lot of things around here.  Fear? Paranoia? Gossip mainly.
I've overheard someone talk about how  "they"
take over the comfort stations and do unspeakable things in there.  In all the times I've been here, I've seen no evidence of that.  My immediate neighbour claims they stand around at night and hack into his computer.  I wonder how people who sleep on sidewalks and rummage the garbage for a bit of left over food, might have the electronics and knowledge to hack into anyone's computer.  I've come to the conclusion that it is really poverty that is feared.