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TFTC


Rosemark

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Though I have been guilty of it, I hate the term "TFTC" I realize that when you go out and do 50 to 60 caches in a day that it is hard to write somethig when you log them. One of the most enjoyable things about being a Cache Owner is reading the posts when someone finds your caches. It is cool to read a story about the find, or even just a cut and paist covering your day of caching, however when someone finds your cache and only posts "TFTC" it is somewhat disapointing!

 

I have been guilty of it myself, but have resolved as of Jan 1 to not do it anymore. I will try to post a story of my caching day, and on some cool caches, or when something unusual happens while hunting for a cache I will from now on try to post a story!

 

What do you post, and how do you feel about "TFTC"

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I agree its kinda lame, but its hard to write an inspirational log when it's LPC.

 

"Pulled up to the parking lot at 11:30 am. The smell of urine was less than usual, and the piles of trash were minimal. After lifting the skirt, a swarm of wasps stung me several hundreds times. No matter, I was able to find the quite typical hide a key/film canister/pill bottle under the skirt. Signed the wet log, and moved on. "

 

Or

 

TFTC

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I agree its kinda lame, but its hard to write an inspirational log when it's LPC.

 

"Pulled up to the parking lot at 11:30 am. The smell of urine was less than usual, and the piles of trash were minimal. After lifting the skirt, a swarm of wasps stung me several hundreds times. No matter, I was able to find the quite typical hide a key/film canister/pill bottle under the skirt. Signed the wet log, and moved on. "

 

Or

 

TFTC

 

Now see, I would love to read a post like that on one of my Caches, It would tick off my wife, because I would be laughing so loud she would not be able to hear the TV...

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I agree its kinda lame, but its hard to write an inspirational log when it's LPC.

 

"Pulled up to the parking lot at 11:30 am. The smell of urine was less than usual, and the piles of trash were minimal. After lifting the skirt, a swarm of wasps stung me several hundreds times. No matter, I was able to find the quite typical hide a key/film canister/pill bottle under the skirt. Signed the wet log, and moved on. "

 

Or

 

TFTC

 

Now see, I would love to read a post like that on one of my Caches, It would tick off my wife, because I would be laughing so loud she would not be able to hear the TV...

 

Then I will be posting that or something like it on all the LPC's and GRC I find. Thanks for the idea!

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I'm very cynical in my logs in lame caches...

 

A recent example

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=db49c2be-aca2-48e4-945e-7d658ef5e826

"Coords took me to the other side of the guardrail, what an adventure walking ALL the way to the other side! TFTC!"

 

If the cache is lame enough, my log gets limited to

 

#XXXX

 

Where XXXX is the find number for me. One of my local Reviewers thinks that's hilarious.

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In general, I dislike acronyms in logs, especially if that's all there is. I don't think I've ever logged a cache using one. I try to take the time to write out a bit, even if it's a park and grab.

 

Ironically, however, I like the idea of TFTH, and own a license plate with that acronym, as well as a caching blog. It can mean either Thanks for the Hide, or Thanks for the Hunt, which has spiritual connotations for me.

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I don't think it is that hard to right something unique for each cache. It doesn't need to be the greatest prose ever written, it doesn't need to be a novel.

 

My best day was only 44 caches, so it might be different if I was one of these power trail cachers. Of course, even then I suspect I would be unique with each log:

 

- Out with xxxxx cacher today doing our first power trail.

- This was the 396th cache on this trail.

- Hey, thanks for making this one unique -- oh wait, no it wasn't.

- Found it just where I expected it would be.

- Not sure I'll make the effort to do a power trail again, but thanks for the experience.

- Seriously, I had lost count by this point. Now I see this one was my 734th of the day.

- Sorry for the copy and paste log, but...

- Most of our caching party had dropped out by this point but I was still doing my Energizer Bunny impression.

- Who knew doing nothing but jumping in and out of the car would get so tiring.

- I was seeing double by this point so can I log this one twice?

 

See? Not hard at all. :lol:

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I really like the sarcastic logs about the smell of urine. I'd use that but I really don't want to hurt someone's feelings unnecessarily. It is just a game. So I post TFTC on lame hides instead. I do think it's thanking them and equals the effort they put into the hide. I don't use TFTC as an insult...just a quick way to log thanks.

 

If I knew the CO had a sense of humor I'd use the sarcastic logs. I may one of these days! :)

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So far we seem to have heard from highly active cachers who will post a "TFTC" for a lame parking lot micro. I agree with this. I don't have this problem though, I ignore them. I basically don't find any super "lame" caches.

 

However, in case no one noticed, there is a major trend by newer Geocachers, often smart phone users, to drop "TFTC" on any and all caches, despite their lameness. This practice is lame. :)

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So far we seem to have heard from highly active cachers who will post a "TFTC" for a lame parking lot micro. I agree with this. I don't have this problem though, I ignore them. I basically don't find any super "lame" caches.

 

However, in case no one noticed, there is a major trend by newer Geocachers, often smart phone users, to drop "TFTC" on any and all caches, despite their lameness. This practice is lame. :)

 

I haven't noticed that trend. The logs I see posted from a BlackBerry are very long and descriptive. :) Except for the lame hides.

 

I'm getting better at filtering caches but sometimes it's hard to know if it's a LPC from the cache page.

 

*Posted from my BlackBerry 9630*

 

All my logs are posted from my BlackBerry!

Edited by SeekerOfTheWay
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So far we seem to have heard from highly active cachers who will post a "TFTC" for a lame parking lot micro. I agree with this. I don't have this problem though, I ignore them. I basically don't find any super "lame" caches.

 

However, in case no one noticed, there is a major trend by newer Geocachers, often smart phone users, to drop "TFTC" on any and all caches, despite their lameness. This practice is lame. :)

Drop those lame o's an email and set them straight! Just help them out, if they don't respond at least you tried.

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I don't like it either. Surely you can find something to say about even the lamest of caches. "Loved the lines in the parking lot. They were nicely defined, leaving no doubt where parking is allowed and where it isn't.", or "The view of the dumpster was magnificent. Of all the dumpsters I've seen, this was one of the best. The deep shade of green contrasted nicely with the plain concrete of the nearby loading dock".

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I normally write a couple sentences per cache log minimum, but I generally always end with "TFTH". I suppose mostly out of habit. But I agree, unless there happened to be a funny muggle story, there's usually nothing else to say for LPCish caches.

Edited by Nicodemus3
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I don't like it either. Surely you can find something to say about even the lamest of caches. "Loved the lines in the parking lot. They were nicely defined, leaving no doubt where parking is allowed and where it isn't.", or "The view of the dumpster was magnificent. Of all the dumpsters I've seen, this was one of the best. The deep shade of green contrasted nicely with the plain concrete of the nearby loading dock".

 

I'm going to have to remember this. I envy people who can see the humour in the lamest of caches. I vaguely remember a post on the forums from someone who gave a glowing report complete with photos of the exciting things they found at the parking lot hide.

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A good rule of thumb. If you have nothing nice to say...TFTC will do.

 

This is the thing. TFTC has come to mean, 'your cache was ho-hum at best'. So when a CO has put out a decent cache, maybe something with a scenic view, a TFTC comes across a little off-putting. But as a CO I realize that not everybody who writes TFTC (and nothing else) actually means 'your cache was ho-hum'....or do they? :unsure:

 

Addendum: If they really thought that a cache with a scenic view was ho-hum I would rather hear some constructive criticism as to why, rather then just TFTC.

Edited by Lone R
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I'm very cynical in my logs in lame caches...

 

A recent example

 

http://www.geocachin...5e-7d658ef5e826

"Coords took me to the other side of the guardrail, what an adventure walking ALL the way to the other side! TFTC!"

 

If the cache is lame enough, my log gets limited to

 

#XXXX

 

Where XXXX is the find number for me. One of my local Reviewers thinks that's hilarious.

I see. Its lame enough for you to post only your find number, but good enough for you to log it so that your find count is increased by one. Got it.
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I don't like it either. Surely you can find something to say about even the lamest of caches. "Loved the lines in the parking lot. They were nicely defined, leaving no doubt where parking is allowed and where it isn't.", or "The view of the dumpster was magnificent. Of all the dumpsters I've seen, this was one of the best. The deep shade of green contrasted nicely with the plain concrete of the nearby loading dock".

 

I've done similar to that. It actually makes logging it fun! I once logged three fake DNFs before logging the find on a LPC, mentioning that I had driven home, used phone-a-friend, then driven back to the cache.

 

More recently, I have been logging "Thanks for the practice, I'm getting pretty good at these" for LPCs.

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A good rule of thumb. If you have nothing nice to say...TFTC will do.

 

This is the thing. TFTC has come to mean, 'your cache was ho-hum at best'. So when a CO has put out a decent cache, maybe something with a scenic view, a TFTC comes across a little off-putting. But as a CO I realize that not everybody who writes TFTC (and nothing else) actually means 'your cache was ho-hum'....or do they? :unsure:

 

Addendum: If they really thought that a cache with a scenic view was ho-hum I would rather hear some constructive criticism as to why, rather then just TFTC.

I agree with you 100%, and that is exactly what I want it to mean when I only write TFTC. i.e. parking lot lamp skirt with a pill bottle, a log that has been full for months, and the cache description is made of a couple meaningless sentence fragments. The CO clearly doesn't care to make an effort so why would I. Often TFTC is completely appropriate for the lame cache and obvious lack of effort on the part of the CO. Otherwise if it's at least a half way decent cache then I should make the effort to write a couple sentences.

Edited by dreamarcher
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I don't like it either. Surely you can find something to say about even the lamest of caches. "Loved the lines in the parking lot. They were nicely defined, leaving no doubt where parking is allowed and where it isn't.", or "The view of the dumpster was magnificent. Of all the dumpsters I've seen, this was one of the best. The deep shade of green contrasted nicely with the plain concrete of the nearby loading dock".

 

I don't know if snark is a good replacement for brevity. If I found myself caching in such an area I just wouldn't continue looking.

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I get a bit annoyed when I see "TFTC" or "TNLN TFTC" on my ammo cans I work hard on - I always put good swag in each ammo can. I always have a story; even for those lame caches. But I appreciate the cachers that take a little time and effort to write a little something. It is exciting to read their story on how they got to it or what happened during their search, but if I only see copy & pasted logs I just delete the emails that notify me and don't bother reading on.

All I can say is, thank you to all those cachers that place excellent hides/larger than nano hides and put effort & quality in caches, and thank you to the cachers that write more than an acronym :)

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Hide caches that will inspire more than TFTC? Or live with it? Oh, well?

I've always wondered why someone would do a cache with a spectacular view in the fog, and log TFTC. Oh, well. No skin off my nose.

We live in the world of instant gratification and attention difficiency. Ya don't like it? Nothing you can do about it. Live with it.

Edited by Harry Dolphin
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A good rule of thumb. If you have nothing nice to say...TFTC will do.

 

This is the thing. TFTC has come to mean, 'your cache was ho-hum at best'. So when a CO has put out a decent cache, maybe something with a scenic view, a TFTC comes across a little off-putting. But as a CO I realize that not everybody who writes TFTC (and nothing else) actually means 'your cache was ho-hum'....or do they? :unsure:

 

Addendum: If they really thought that a cache with a scenic view was ho-hum I would rather hear some constructive criticism as to why, rather then just TFTC.

I agree with you 100%, and that is exactly what I want it to mean when I only write TFTC. i.e. parking lot lamp skirt with a pill bottle, a log that has been full for months, and the cache description is made of a couple meaningless sentence fragments. The CO clearly doesn't care to make an effort so why would I. Often TFTC is completely appropriate for the lame cache and obvious lack of effort on the part of the CO. Otherwise if it's at least a half way decent cache then I should make the effort to write a couple sentences.

 

I have both! all the way from The "Lame P&G Skirt pill bottle" to the "Very large hard to find, out in the deep bush, long hike, thorns and bush whacking" Caches. They ALL have their purpose in the world of caching. I myself like the "Deep Bush Hard to Find Large Caches with a lot of Swag" But as a CO I know that a lot of cachers like the inner city P&G's so I hide both. You should just search for the ones you like, and understand that caching is for Everyone! and cache types should exist for all cachers. But if it is inner city P&G's that you like you should post something about your expirence, and not just TFTC. The same thing goes for the big caches out in the bush. I have one cache "Crossing the Wilderness" that takes a 2 mile walk through the bush, and about 3 to 4 hours to go get, and I have had cachers post "TNLN TFTC". Now come on, they could have at least posted about the hard trek to and from the cache!

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I never use TFTC because I get too many logs on our own caches that have only TFTC!

 

I always try to do at least one sentence about the cache ... (even the lamest ones), or the hunt, and then I simply substitute type "Thanks for the cache"

 

Imagine that! I actually take the time to type the whole words out! :rolleyes:

Edited by BC & MsKitty
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I am not a geocaching log writing critic. It really doesn't matter to me what anyone writes in the log on my cache. Just as long as it doesn't contain cussing and they really actually found it. I really like it though when someone posts a nice log. :D :D

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I am not a geocaching log writing critic. It really doesn't matter to me what anyone writes in the log on my cache. Just as long as it doesn't contain cussing and they really actually found it. I really like it though when someone posts a nice log. :D :D

 

As a CO I agree. I just hope they had fun. I enjoy longer logs but the are just a bonus. A TFTC on a hiking/ammo can cache is cool too.

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I sometimes use TFTC after I say other things. However, there are some caches out there that I do not like at all and I do not feel like putting a comment in there saying so, so I might just say TFTC. Usually I find something to say though if thats the case.

 

I would rather someone say TFTC than go on a bitch-fest about trivial things about the cache though. Constructive criticism is one thing, but would rather have TFTC than a rant.

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I have a couple of unique caches out there that I always look forward to the logs on them. I am always dissappointed when I only get "TFTC" or "out caching with joeblow" without acknoweledging the uniqueness of the cache. Now some of my NYC micros I don't expect exciting logs from even though they do take you to some nice hidden parks in the middle of the city.

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I didn't write this but I use it from time to time:

 

What a clever way to hide an LPC. Usually the film canister is under the NW corner of the cover, but this one was in the SE corner! This therefore required a lot of extra effort to lean a little further out of the window. I almost had to release my seatbelt! Also, I really enjoyed the looks I got from muggles as I lifted the skirt with a loud screech! Thanks for taking me to this scenic parking lot!

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I enjoy getting Found logs on my caches. The more that's written, the more I enjoy it. But if the seeker only wrote a little, I still enjoy it a little.

 

I mostly don't know the finders, so I try to avoid judging their reasons for logging as they do.

 

I tend to get a mixture of TFTC and longer logs. As long as I get some logs indicating that the finder liked the cache, I think that's good, positive feedback and don't take the TFTC logs as negatives.

 

I don't own any LPCs. I've never found an LPC. Although my average log length is around 900 characters, I don't think I've ever included "TFTC" or similar in a log. I sometimes thank the CO for something specific. So, I'm at one end of the bell curve -- and some cachers are at the other end.

 

Edward

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Sarcasm first:

And people said that *I* had a feeling of entitlement because I expect to be taken to neat places while caching. :rolleyes:

 

Point A:

Before the favorites points were introduced last week, many people resorted to a macro in GSAK that took the logs that were downloaded, and found the average length, and sorted them. The idea was that if the average length of the log is longer, it must have something worth writing about, and therefore must be a more interesting cache. I never fully subscribed to that line of thinking. Maybe someone wrote pages and pages about how much they hated the cache and that they were accosted by rabid squirrels, etc.

 

Point B:

Just as the OP believes of caches that "...ALL have their purpose in the world of caching" - I believe that cachers should have the right to log with brevity if they so choose, and that these brief logs have their place. There is a requirement of SOMETHING in the cache log - find number, a punctuation, etc. My shortest logs were "Found it." (9 characters) - Cache was in a parking lot in plain sight. The second place for shortness was "Found it, I guess." (18 characters) in an unmaintained virtual I found back in December of 2002. I'm STILL not sure what I was supposed to see there. These were not stellar finds, and definitely won't make my "favorites".

 

Is it more courteous to post longer logs than the four characters? Sure. But if Geocaching has taught me anything, it's that the coolest notions on the planet can be simplified into the least amount of effort. I have visited many caches deep in the woods only to find a year later than another cacher puts a cache in the same park, a quarter mile away, right next to the parking lot. Then people go to the park to find caches - which one gets more visits? The parking lot cache of course. As these park-and-grab caches become more and more numerous, and the numbers runs are an increasing side diversion to caching, people won't take the time to log hundreds of caches in a day's worth of finds with individual creative and lengthy logs. The cachers that need to log hundreds of PNGs will set them all up in a GSAK macro that posts "TFTC" on a 459 caches they've found in the 24 hours, and "DNF" on the ones they didn't.

 

I see both the PNGs, and the "TFTC" as a natural evolution of our game - manly because the bulk of our society is driven toward competition and seeking the most reward for the least possible effort.

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I like seeing long logs on mine. However, I don't expect them.

 

I expect an online log when someone finds my cache.

 

If they do TFTC, I know the cache is still there.

 

Any chance people could come up with some really good topics for this set of forums? I mean, I remember when there were actual useful questions. Not people constantly complaining others aren't playing the game the way they want to play it, and so forth.

 

Sorry - getting a little salty - I see the forums as useful in many cases, but lately all the topics have been about people not liking the way other people play. Get a power trail, someone complains instead of just not searching for them. Get a TFTC log, someone complains they don't like the way people logged their cache. Get a LPC, someone complains about it. Get a hard cache with a nice view, someone complains its too hard to get to or to find.

 

Can we just be happy with the fact that people are putting out caches for us to find, find them, and have fun doing so, or not search for them if we don't like that type? And use the forums for useful information, not useless whining because everyone doesn't play the game the way "I" want them to?

 

Seems pretty simple to me.

Edited by FireRef
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I try to avoid sarcasm in my logs. I can usually tell from the cache page if it's an LPC, by the location and hint ("you'll find this cache illuminating" or whatever). And in those circumstances where I've chosen to hunt anyway, or where I didn't realize the placement until I got there, I try to keep my logs neutral at worst.

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I had a cache that wasn't generating logs worth reading so I archived it. I have some good caches that if I get an occasional TFTC the other logs will definitely make up for it. I don't care if one or two people don't want to write more.

 

If the majority of logs are dull, bye-bye cache.

Edited by BlueDeuce
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Can we just be happy with the fact that people are putting out caches for us to find, find them, and have fun doing so, or not search for them if we don't like that type? And use the forums for useful information, not useless whining because everyone doesn't play the game the way "I" want them to?

 

Seems pretty simple to me.

 

That's the true spirit!!! I totally agree.

:)

Edited by jon.hemlock.Chantal
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So far we seem to have heard from highly active cachers who will post a "TFTC" for a lame parking lot micro. I agree with this. I don't have this problem though, I ignore them. I basically don't find any super "lame" caches.

 

However, in case no one noticed, there is a major trend by newer Geocachers, often smart phone users, to drop "TFTC" on any and all caches, despite their lameness. This practice is lame. :)

In my opinion, you feel the way you do about the 'TFTC' log because you are reading more (or less) into it than is there.

 

TFTC is an acronym meaning 'Thanks for the cache'. A player who is thankful for every cache that is placed for him to find may certainly choose to log 'TFTC' on every found cache. Just because you have the mistaken opinion that this acronym must mean 'lame', doesn't make it so.

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So far we seem to have heard from highly active cachers who will post a "TFTC" for a lame parking lot micro. I agree with this. I don't have this problem though, I ignore them. I basically don't find any super "lame" caches.

 

However, in case no one noticed, there is a major trend by newer Geocachers, often smart phone users, to drop "TFTC" on any and all caches, despite their lameness. This practice is lame. :)

In my opinion, you feel the way you do about the 'TFTC' log because you are reading more (or less) into it than is there.

 

TFTC is an acronym meaning 'Thanks for the cache'. A player who is thankful for every cache that is placed for him to find may certainly choose to log 'TFTC' on every found cache. Just because you have the mistaken opinion that this acronym must mean 'lame', doesn't make it so.

 

"Mistaken Opinion", eh? That's a good one. Can I take that as "I'm right, you're wrong"? :rolleyes:

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Can we just be happy with the fact that people are putting out caches for us to find, find them, and have fun doing so, or not search for them if we don't like that type? And use the forums for useful information, not useless whining because everyone doesn't play the game the way "I" want them to?

 

Seems pretty simple to me.

 

That's because summarizing Geocaching as "every cache is a gift and you if you don't like some of them don't do them" is, ummm, an oversimplification?

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Some people do use TFTC as a stand-in for "your cache was lame", and intend it as such. Other folks absolutely do use TFTC as shorthand for the genuine sentiment of "Thanks for the cache". It's an unfortunate tension, especially for people new to the game who may be surprised to find out that some view the term as pejorative.

 

It can be hard enough to break into a new subculture, without the potential minefield of an official glossary with terms that mean the opposite of their definitions, according to some. I have a lot of empathy for people in this situation.

 

I made a wordle of all of the logs for one of my caches a few months back, and 'tftc' was about the third-most prominent string.

 

http://img.geocaching.com/cache/8f3cccbb-559e-4998-a391-0e0ab791f015.jpg

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So far we seem to have heard from highly active cachers who will post a "TFTC" for a lame parking lot micro. I agree with this. I don't have this problem though, I ignore them. I basically don't find any super "lame" caches.

 

However, in case no one noticed, there is a major trend by newer Geocachers, often smart phone users, to drop "TFTC" on any and all caches, despite their lameness. This practice is lame. :)

In my opinion, you feel the way you do about the 'TFTC' log because you are reading more (or less) into it than is there.

 

TFTC is an acronym meaning 'Thanks for the cache'. A player who is thankful for every cache that is placed for him to find may certainly choose to log 'TFTC' on every found cache. Just because you have the mistaken opinion that this acronym must mean 'lame', doesn't make it so.

"Mistaken Opinion", eh? That's a good one. Can I take that as "I'm right, you're wrong"? :rolleyes:
You are free to interpret it in any way that you like, but the correct interpretation would be that "you are not equipped to read the minds of all other cachers, so don't pretend that you can." Edited by sbell111
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