markewallace

Let's see if I have this straight. You say you don't start flame wars, and then in the next breath you try to start one? Cmon. Yours might be about the most stupid response to a perfectly reasonable question that I've seen, either here or elsewhere. There are TONS of newbie and/or just very basic questions being asked here every day. Are you going to start posting your flaming trash in response to every one of them? - Mark

Next we'll have a poll to see how many people use their feet and hands for geocaching.

I admit to not having read through this whole thread yet, but one comment that I have is not to interpret the changing faces at events as a sign that former attendees have quit geocaching. Unless you have actually checked their stats (which I recognize that maybe you have done), you can't be sure that they have quit. For that matter, I guess it's entirely possible (albeit unlikely) that they're still caching but not updating their stats here. It's quite common for me to start up new hobbies/activities by finding a local club, enlisting their help in getting started, and then eventually leaving the group so I can go out on my own. It's just the way I am; I like to do a lot of things on my own, but I don't want to try to learn on my own. Cheers, Mark

I'm planning to place a few that require rock climbing skills and equipment. Thus, you'd need to have been trained by someone with the skill to teach rock climbing, and you'd have to have special rock climbing gear to get there. - Mark

Did you beat anybody up for it? - Mark

Oh, I know. All I'm saying is that, with as big as geocaching is getting, eventually the wrong two hyper-competitive knuckleheads will collide over a FTF. I'm sure you're right with your statement of the status quo, though. Yes, it's a friendly enough activity now, but I've also seen table tennis players fight over a disagreement about a point, rock climbers fight over who got the first free ascent of a climbing route, and even two yoga classmates fight over one's belief that the other was too loud in class. If people can fight over yoga, I have no trouble at all believing that there will eventually be a fight over an unfound cache. - Mark

I think you called them selfish. Eek...somebody got called selfish. Be still my heart. Yeah, I suppose I said that. Take a look though, and you'll see that I only said that once somebody else (Cedar Grove Seekers) ridiculously called me selfish for letting others have the FTFs. How on earth somebody can be seen as selfish for selflessly giving an opportunity to someone else is a little beyond my comprehension. You wrote "I say spread, not hog, the fun" as a response to ReadyOrNot's suggestion that we not 'let' newcomers get the FTFs. I took this to mean you were suggesting that we should let the newcomers get the FTFs. I then said that 'expecting' people to 'let' others get the FTFs seems selfish to me because you are infringing on someone's fun. If you yourself want to let others get the FTFs then I agree that's selfless, but I didn't think you were referring to yourself considering you acknowledged that you don't have any FTFs. Fair enough. That's just a misunderstanding then. I absolutely don't care about getting personal FTFs, and thus I don't expect anybody to save them for me. I'm also perfectly content to let everyone around me go get `em. On the other hand, if I took a polar opposite approach to that and aggressively pursued getting all the FTFs that I could - to the point of actually being competitive about it - then I know that I would eventually (1) get tired of it, and (2) get really self-conscious about hogging fun that others could be having. Do I expect everyone to have that level of self-consciousness? No, but to me it's a more palatable approach to this activity than trying to be the community FTF hog. What's next for geocaching? Full-contact FTF grabbing? It wouldn't surprise me at all if somewhere there has actually been a fight between two people trying to grab the same FTF. It'll happen, if it hasn't already. Cheers, Mark

I think you called them selfish. Eek...somebody got called selfish. Be still my heart. Yeah, I suppose I said that. Take a look though, and you'll see that I only said that once somebody else (Cedar Grove Seekers) ridiculously called me selfish for letting others have the FTFs. How on earth somebody can be seen as selfish for selflessly giving an opportunity to someone else is a little beyond my comprehension. On the other hand, going through all that one has to go through in order to consistently and intentionally hog FTFs in one's area....well, to me that's still selfish behavior, since your sole focus in doing so is to ensure that you, and only you, get the FTF. Hell, people race out in the middle of the frickin' night in order get FTFs. I've even seen several examples (not in this thread, but elsewhere) of intentionally misleading others in order to throw them off the trail of that first find. If that's not selfish, I guess I don't know what is. It's one thing to be competitive, but when you start deceiving others in order to make sure that you win, then (in my opinion) you're being selfish. - Mark

Geezus...show me where I put anybody down. All I said was that I'd feel self-conscious about grabbing so many FTFs rather than saving them for others. Are you really insulted by the fact that a complete stranger doesn't share your zeal for FTFs? Cmon. But...to answer your question : I have no desire at all to drop everything at a moment's notice just race to a spot so I can be the first to find a container in the middle of a forest (or whatever). If others choose to do that, then that's fine, but that's not where I am in my life, and I don't share their enthusiasm. Different strokes for different folks, that's all. The OP asked forum members for their opinion, and I provided mine. If you have a problem with the fact that I provided a solicited opinion, then that's your problem, not mine. - Mark

And I never considered Texas the South, IMO. Its out West. Its not Southern. Maybe West Texas could be considered "out West." If you look at a map though, I think it's pretty clear that 1) most of Texas is smack-dab in the middle of the country latitudinally, and 2) only one state (Florida, by virtue of Key West) is any further south than Texas. Texas is certainly a hell of a lot further south than Virginia. - Mark

I absolutely don't care about FTFs, which is why I've made no attempt whatsoever to grab one; however, that's not going to stop me from answering the OP's question. I've done no such thing. All I did was express my opinion about FTF-hogging, which was exactly what the OP asked us all to do. - Mark

WTF? Letting others in on the fun (and thus, by definition, sacrificing your own fun) is selfish?!? I don't get it. To me (and, yes, it's a matter of opinion), the "fun" is in finding the cache at any time, not just the FTF. To you, the fun may be in racing others to the FTF, but to me, that's the selfish behavior. - Mark

I've highlighted the part of your post that I have a problem with. Letting someone do something takes away from the entire purpose of getting it. How would you have felt about your FTF if when you arrived at the cache, three other people were there and they said, "We haven't opened the box yet, because we wanted you to be the first one to open it".. Kind of takes away the fun doesn't it? Depends on what you see as "fun." Personally, though I don't have any FTFs yet (I'm new), I'm sure that I would feel awfully self-conscious (i.e. guilty) about hogging the FTFs in our area. I say spread, not hog, the fun. Your mileage may - and clearly does - vary. - Mark

I happen to agree with the thought of not skipping micros (though I hate bison tubes for some reason), but it's rude (IMHO) to tell the OP what his real question is or should be. The OP asked one question, not another. And, yes, I understand that this is a forum and that the answers remained on topic, but why not just answer the question as originally stated rather than butting in with one's belief about what the question should have been to begin with?

No, the real question was:

geocaCHes geocaCHes geocaCHes

Oh, fair enough. You're right.

How about just some assinine demands? This isn't the asinine demands thread? oops. assinine demands would be if I wanted a donkey. (Snide equine-related remark voluntarily removed)

[Devils' Advocate Mode] I'm still kinda new around here, but I wasn't really aware that this was one of the purposes of PQ's. Is it? Certainly, it's a beneficial side-effect, but is it really one of the purposes of PQ's? [/Devil's Advocate Mode]

How about just some assinine demands?

You also have the right to remain silent... But apparently not the ability! Somebody watches too much Comedy Central. - Mark

I have one thing to say beyond all of the other replies (click to play, with speakers on). - Mark

Geezus. Get a life. Personally, I'd rather that the time be spent on fixing the problem, not on writing some glorious statement about what is being done about it. Where exactly does it say that premium membership guarantees 24/7 access?

What is Google? I keep hearing about it but can't figure out where to get it.

I thought of something worse, so I'm gonna start carrying extra undies. Nothing worse than trench crotch. - Mark