Hey you dropped your---

"Hey, you dropped your--!"
"JOE! NO! LEAVE IT!"
Katie pulls me by the arm up the sidewalk along the tramway away from the shoeshine brush that fell from a shoeshiner's kit.

She told me she had read that this was a trick, especially in the tourist-heavy areas of Sultanahmet. A shoeshine drops his brush as he passes some tourists, pretending not to notice. A Good Samaritan sees it, informs the shoeshine, and the con is on. The shoeshine strikes up conversation with the tourists, thanks them, offers a free shine as a thank-you, and then requires payment for his unsolicited service.

I was taken by surprise the first time it happened and immediately felt naive and foolish. I was also glad Katie had read into this and traveled to more places where street cons are common. The same thing happened a few more times within the hour. It was comical and predictable, specifically the final occurrence when a fellow Istanbullu was the one following the shoeshine up the street and blew up his game. 

"Ağabey!"

You can read more about Istanbul tourist scams: here.