Why can't we all be friends?
We have been hearing about some disturbing actions in the Geocaching community lately. It seems that some individuals think that it is their job to criticize how others on how to play the game.
At a small gathering of our caching friends one of them commented that he was going to hide his first geocache. After we congratulated him on his decision he told us that he was doing so because another geocacher sent him an email detailing that because he had found 200 caches he should obligate himself to hide one himself.
There was another discussion about another geocacher that temporarily archived one of his geocaches because some people had sent him an email about how he rated his cache and also questioning whether his "winter accessible" attribute was correct. The hider has proclaimed that they probably won't be hiding anymore caches.
We also heard that a new geocacher that has been hiding quite a few caches was thinking about dropping the hobby because at least one individual criticized him about one of his hides.
To begin with everybody determines how they themselves decide to play the game. And remember it is just a game. It is not a competitition. You are only playing against yourself. We know some geocachers that have more fun hiding than they do finding. Should they be criticized because they don't find enough? Rather than blaming the hiders of geocaches when you can't find one or don't even venture out because it might be too hard you should be thankful that these people are hiding caches for you to find. It is your job as a geocache hunter to determine which caches you want to find and how much effort you wish to put into each hunt. Some will be easy and others are harder to find. Choose what works best for you. Another thing to remember is that you will never find them all. There are just too darn many and the hobby is growing. If you are as obsessed with the sport as much as we are you shoud be happy about that. If we can influence just one geocacher to be less critical of a cache hider, we will be happy. Remember what grandma said; "If you can't say something nice, then say nothing at all".
So - Lets all be friends and have fun!
At a small gathering of our caching friends one of them commented that he was going to hide his first geocache. After we congratulated him on his decision he told us that he was doing so because another geocacher sent him an email detailing that because he had found 200 caches he should obligate himself to hide one himself.
There was another discussion about another geocacher that temporarily archived one of his geocaches because some people had sent him an email about how he rated his cache and also questioning whether his "winter accessible" attribute was correct. The hider has proclaimed that they probably won't be hiding anymore caches.
We also heard that a new geocacher that has been hiding quite a few caches was thinking about dropping the hobby because at least one individual criticized him about one of his hides.
To begin with everybody determines how they themselves decide to play the game. And remember it is just a game. It is not a competitition. You are only playing against yourself. We know some geocachers that have more fun hiding than they do finding. Should they be criticized because they don't find enough? Rather than blaming the hiders of geocaches when you can't find one or don't even venture out because it might be too hard you should be thankful that these people are hiding caches for you to find. It is your job as a geocache hunter to determine which caches you want to find and how much effort you wish to put into each hunt. Some will be easy and others are harder to find. Choose what works best for you. Another thing to remember is that you will never find them all. There are just too darn many and the hobby is growing. If you are as obsessed with the sport as much as we are you shoud be happy about that. If we can influence just one geocacher to be less critical of a cache hider, we will be happy. Remember what grandma said; "If you can't say something nice, then say nothing at all".
So - Lets all be friends and have fun!
3 Comments:
Well said. It is human nature to compete but that's not the name of this game. I often times catch myself doing the same thing, but only keep those comments to myself and wife. However, I do comment on caches that are not 'safe' or person risk is involved - I don't feel opening electical boxes that have live wires is a good idea and I will comment that the cache location should be considered for removal. There seem to be a few of those around the Missoula area that involve a little risky business to claim as a find. All and all though, it's just a game and we should all have fun, while we curse under our breath during difficult finds!
Glad to see a new post! I was beginning to worry.
Hello:)
My family is new to these caches, and we've only found about 8 in our area in Ohio, but so far there isn't any reason to complain, it just a blast! I haven't saw a dangerous cache yet, and I hope I don't, because my kids are there with us. We would like to hide a box ourselves, and we are going to ask permission from our villiage, if it's ok, we shouldn't have any problems, I hope:) Thanks for your comment on my blog, because now I have you onto my favorites. This was a interesting blog. Take care, Elisa:)
Mike and Barb,
Good comment. I often see posts of cachers bashing others or making un-called for remarks. I think it's just best to leave a positive log of the geocache experience and if things need correcting send an email to the cache owner. Let's just have fun!
-mark
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