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Muggle Encounters


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I was cacheing yesterday on public property when i was aproched by a stranger and questioned as if i was a suspected terorist attempting to detonate a nuclear wepon. I dont mind if folks who are curiose about what we do but its hard to tell them in between the third degrees remarks and questions. Just wanted to get spme feedback and let people share thire own muggle encounter stories.

Edited by Scare Force One
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Unless it is a local police officer I will normally try to get the person to lighten up. It's public property, you aren't destroying anything, and they have no real authority to chastize you for milling around. Private property, much different story. But you could have been walking around in circles looking for something like a piece of jewelry. I like to read muggles when they come up to me. A muggle that I feel is open to listening I'll have some fun with, but one that seems to be closed minded I really am not going to waste my time trying to explain what I am doing. I'll just tell them I'm looking for an ear ring or somethin my girlfriend lost earlier in the day and then ignore them.

 

Now the muggle story.

 

Apparently while I was searching for a cache. A family (unbeknownst to me) was staring at me while I poked and prodded at trees. After they walked away I did make the find but as I was leaving the area they followed behind me and were standing behind my car jotting down the license plate number most likely. They almost made the attempt to talk to me but never did, so I left. Nothin happened though. Lucky me.

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Apparently while I was searching for a cache. A family (unbeknownst to me) was staring at me while I poked and prodded at trees. After they walked away I did make the find but as I was leaving the area they followed behind me and were standing behind my car jotting down the license plate number most likely. They almost made the attempt to talk to me but never did, so I left. Nothin happened though. Lucky me.

 

Serves you right for looking "Shifty". :blink:

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Could these encounters have something to do with the location of the cache? I didn't think twice about placing a cache in view of a playground in a local park, I mean come on, I'm a woman and I cache with my kids. A couple of logs mentioned guys getting strange looks poking around in the bushes and it made me think hard enough that I went and moved it. Sometimes it's all in the location of the cache.

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It has to do with about everthing that cachers do fits the profile of what a person who is an actual threat would do. We are harmless they are not. Random people who do take time to report things are doing the right thing. (being blatant about it is a stupid thing to do though). If they are taking your licence it's fair to take theirs.

 

I'll lay odds a cacher can tell the difference between another cacher and an actual threat, but not a muggle.

Edited by Renegade Knight
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For example: Some Excerpts from A Manual on how to spot threats to our nations security and how cachers fit the bill.

 

Personal Signs/Traits

o Nervousness (excessive smoking, pacing, sweating, etc.)

Why won't those muggles leave…

o Avoidance of eye contact

If I don't make eye contact they won't ask me what I'm doing..

o Fixation on the target

It's got to be here…

o Shielding activities and masking behavior from onlookers, passing police, security

personnel, and video cameras

"Stealth required caches"

o Wearing the uniform of delivery, postal, or repair people, but not functioning as such

"in a high muggle area an orange vest and clip board makes you invisible"

Unusual Activities-Active

o Use of binoculars, cameras, night vision devices, GPS

GPS? Duh!

o Making notes or sketches of a potential target

"I give up, lets decode the clue…"

o Pacing off or measuring distances

"If I walk by this spot enough maybe I'll see the cache…"

o Looking for a parking space, but never parking when they could

"Why didn't they include parking coordinates for this cache!"

o Fishermen lacking the proper gear or knowledge-they may return to the same

spot even though they catch nothing

"Fishing? I'm caching!"

Unusual Activities-Passive

o People who apparently have "nothing to do"

"If I wait long enough the muggles will leave"

o People who remain in place in spite of inclement weather

"Neither Rain, Nor Snow will stop a cacher…"

o Repeated presence in the same location

"6th time is a charm, I'll find it this time"

o Loitering in areas that locals consider unsafe

"...but the cache is here!"

o Sitting in a parked vehicle for no apparent reason

"we have to wait for the muggles to leave"

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Fishermen lacking the proper gear or knowledge-they may return to the same

spot even though they catch nothing

 

Isn't that the actual definition of fishing? I mean it's called fishing not catching.

 

I also blame all those Geocaching "vests" that make people think you're some lost fisherman wandering the woods without a pole. "Looking for a lake there, buddy?"

 

 

edit: your/you're

Edited by BlueDeuce
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I'll lay odds a cacher can tell the difference between another cacher and an actual threat, but not a muggle.

Maybe everybody..ah.. muggles someone should take a test...

 

It's truly a sad state of affairs when the government encourages people to spy on one another. It doesn't make it any easier for geocachers, that's for sure. When muggles and myself share the same encounter, usually the muggle goes away sorry they asked. Sometimes I even follow after them to explain some of the finer details of geocaching. They either join up or get out of Dodge. :blink::blink:

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[...When muggles and myself share the same encounter, usually the muggle goes away sorry they asked....

 

That reminds me. We were poking around a rock pile near a trail when a lady with 'that look' askes us what we are doing. I told her geocaching. She wanted to know what it was so I told her. The clueless you got to be up to no good look never left her face. She left knowing we were up to something involving a rock pile but having been told 100% the truth I don't know if she could figure out what to do with it.

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That reminds me. We were poking around a rock pile near a trail when a lady with 'that look' askes us what we are doing. I told her geocaching. She wanted to know what it was so I told her. The clueless you got to be up to no good look never left her face. She left knowing we were up to something involving a rock pile but having been told 100% the truth I don't know if she could figure out what to do with it.

 

I've actually noticed that there are generally 2 types of people when it comes to explaining Geocaching. There are the "Ok well what do you win for doing this? Nothing? No Money? Prizes??? So, ummmm, you search the woods for worthless stuff???" Type people, and then there are the "That sounds interesting but I don't have a clue as to what they are talking about so I'll sit here and look like I understand it while smiling and nodding my head" (Also known as Deer in Headlights)

 

S

Edited by Shifty
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I think Muggles are going to make geocaching all the more fun for me and several friends I elected to join me. The first few we are going to find are in an area where teenagers (I'm 15) get in trouble a lot. Also there is a lot of old people around who will call the cops. I'm so excited.

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It sounds like the perfect time to get rid of those religion orented pamphlets you may have liberated from some cache a while ago.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE! ?.......Brother,let me tell you....

{handing out card]........that will send them on their way.

 

That is a good one. I'll have to keep it in mind.... :P

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These stories remind me when I went looking for a geocache in a public park. We were driving into the entrance and saw a couple looking into a bush. One was on the ground with a stick probing under the bush and his better half was holding something in her hand. We stopped and asked them if the found it yet? He stood up and said they haven't. Yup!! Geocaching!!

 

When we got out of our car to help them look, I noticed on my GPS that we were off over 500 feet! They had the wrong coordinates and we got them on the right track. Fun day and our first bump into geocachers. :smile:

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I was cacheing yesterday on public property when i was aproched by a stranger and questioned as if i was a suspected terorist attempting to detonate a nuclear wepon. I dont mind if folks who are curiose about what we do but its hard to tell them in between the third degrees remarks and questions. Just wanted to get spme feedback and let people share thire own muggle encounter stories.

 

Actually, you were being questioned by a stranger as if you were a 13 year old kid up to no good. Obviously you were doing nothing wrong, but Mr. Kravitz didn't know that. Unfortunately, it is something you are going to have to live with given your age. It's sad that good kids out caching are going to be harassed, but you just gotta learn to roll with it. Try to understand where this person is coming from: they only want to make sure that you aren't trying to do something mischievious. Once you demonstrate to them that you are harmless and playing a harmless game, they should leave you alone.

 

Unfortunately, some people you meet will have already made up their mind about you before they even approach you, and their questions are meant to get you to say something that will prove to them (in their own minds) that they are right. If you find yourself talking with a person like this, you may want to make a flat statement like:

"Listen, I a playing a harmless game trying to find a particular spot with my GPS. I am not out here to damage anything, I am not spraypainting, making a mess, or anything like that. I am on public property and you don't have a right to harass me like this. If you want to help me find what I am looking for, that's fine, otherwise, please leave me alone."

This of course will not be necessary if the person is listening to your explanations beforehand, but some people aren't interested in listening to the answers you provide for their questions.

 

You may want to carry some of the pamphlets from Geocacher-U:

 

Full-page (pdf)

Wallet-Size (pdf)

 

They will be very helpful in explaining what you are doing.

Good luck!

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For example: Some Excerpts from A Manual on how to spot threats to our nations security and how cachers fit the bill.

 

Personal Signs/Traits

o Nervousness (excessive smoking, pacing, sweating, etc.)

Why won't those muggles leave…

o Avoidance of eye contact

If I don't make eye contact they won't ask me what I'm doing..

o Fixation on the target

It's got to be here…

o Shielding activities and masking behavior from onlookers, passing police, security

personnel, and video cameras

"Stealth required caches"

o Wearing the uniform of delivery, postal, or repair people, but not functioning as such

"in a high muggle area an orange vest and clip board makes you invisible"

Unusual Activities-Active

o Use of binoculars, cameras, night vision devices, GPS

GPS? Duh!

o Making notes or sketches of a potential target

"I give up, lets decode the clue…"

o Pacing off or measuring distances

"If I walk by this spot enough maybe I'll see the cache…"

o Looking for a parking space, but never parking when they could

"Why didn't they include parking coordinates for this cache!"

o Fishermen lacking the proper gear or knowledge-they may return to the same

spot even though they catch nothing

"Fishing? I'm caching!"

Unusual Activities-Passive

o People who apparently have "nothing to do"

"If I wait long enough the muggles will leave"

o People who remain in place in spite of inclement weather

"Neither Rain, Nor Snow will stop a cacher…"

o Repeated presence in the same location

"6th time is a charm, I'll find it this time"

o Loitering in areas that locals consider unsafe

"...but the cache is here!"

o Sitting in a parked vehicle for no apparent reason

"we have to wait for the muggles to leave"

:anibad: LOL

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Apparently while I was searching for a cache. A family (unbeknownst to me) was staring at me while I poked and prodded at trees. After they walked away I did make the find but as I was leaving the area they followed behind me and were standing behind my car jotting down the license plate number most likely. They almost made the attempt to talk to me but never did, so I left. Nothin happened though. Lucky me.

 

 

Ignoring them is probably the best move you can make.

 

If you had a camera, a few quick photo shots of them just as you are leaving would serve them right!

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Could these encounters have something to do with the location of the cache? I didn't think twice about placing a cache in view of a playground in a local park, I mean come on, I'm a woman and I cache with my kids. A couple of logs mentioned guys getting strange looks poking around in the bushes and it made me think hard enough that I went and moved it. Sometimes it's all in the location of the cache.

 

There's one in a park near me that is within 25 feet of a women's outhouse - decent size log construction. Posters (male) have mentioned feeling conspicuous poking around nearby.;)

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I was cacheing yesterday on public property when i was aproched by a stranger and questioned as if i was a suspected terorist attempting to detonate a nuclear wepon. I dont mind if folks who are curiose about what we do but its hard to tell them in between the third degrees remarks and questions. Just wanted to get spme feedback and let people share thire own muggle encounter stories.

 

Actually, you were being questioned by a stranger as if you were a 13 year old kid up to no good. Obviously you were doing nothing wrong, but Mr. Kravitz didn't know that. Unfortunately, it is something you are going to have to live with given your age. It's sad that good kids out caching are going to be harassed, but you just gotta learn to roll with it. Try to understand where this person is coming from: they only want to make sure that you aren't trying to do something mischievious. Once you demonstrate to them that you are harmless and playing a harmless game, they should leave you alone.

 

Unfortunately, some people you meet will have already made up their mind about you before they even approach you, and their questions are meant to get you to say something that will prove to them (in their own minds) that they are right. If you find yourself talking with a person like this, you may want to make a flat statement like:

"Listen, I a playing a harmless game trying to find a particular spot with my GPS. I am not out here to damage anything, I am not spraypainting, making a mess, or anything like that. I am on public property and you don't have a right to harass me like this. If you want to help me find what I am looking for, that's fine, otherwise, please leave me alone."

This of course will not be necessary if the person is listening to your explanations beforehand, but some people aren't interested in listening to the answers you provide for their questions.

 

You may want to carry some of the pamphlets from Geocacher-U:

 

Full-page (pdf)

Wallet-Size (pdf)

 

They will be very helpful in explaining what you are doing.

Good luck!

 

Good advice - and I second the recomendation of carrying the brochure! ;) I have used it to allay fears.

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