Excuse me, what are you doing?

[Milutin]

O boy!

You are so excited cause you will Discover so many caches today.

Your destination is Belgrade* (Serbia,capital city) so you dont have to much job there.

"camera,check!"

"GPS, Check!"

"money,personal stuff check!"

"Pen,Trade items Check!

"Head.... check!"

so you're off.

Your first destination is Avala*(mountain near Belgrade),you're there, found first,second and Third cache,signed put them back and left.

Huh?! 1 hour passed Like you said "kalimegdan"(famous fortress i Belgrade)

Wait.. Kalimegdan is my next Spot! Awesome!

You got there "cleaned up" first cache. Next is near famous church of st. Ružica.

Hmm.. Hint is non helpful real riddle so its givin you a pain.

"muggles" are around you they are everywhere.

Appending to the hint and GPS coord. Cache is IN the Wall.

Searching.....

 

searching about 10 minutes. AHA! You found it! Little plastic "can" with Log and trade item! you cant wait to open it! "it must be something valuable in there" you said.

 

Excuse me, What are you doing? Some guy with sign security on his jacket with Badge who approves that he is from security.

You looked him into his eyes and you said.....

 

 

 

So.... what will you say if you are in this situation?

Or you are asked by some muggle.

 

cache code from the story: GC2G8JM

I took Belgrade(*) in example cause that is mine city, city where i grown up etc etc.

Im sory cause my "poor" english , its not mine primary language.

Edited February 6, 2011 by serbian_slayer

[+StarBrand]

If it is a security guy or other Law Envorcement Officer - tell the truth and nothing but the truth.

 

For muggles, that ask me directly, I tell the truth or if they look suspicious, I say simply that I am looking for something.

[+FamilyDNA]

"I'm geocaching. It's something like a high-tech scavenger hunt."

 

Don't lie to security. Show your GPS and give a brief explanation.

[Milutin]

Hmmm.

you shouldnt wish this happend in Serbia

Cause if you say sumthing like that

"Hi, im just geocaching,searching little boxes around the world"

Officer-security guy will just

look you in the eyes thinking that you are some kind of crayz and just say this

"sir, excuse me can you leave this area"

Or in the worst case you will be in prison cell for 24 hours. Reason "potentially disturbing public order and safety"

 

Mine excuse is like this

"im a graphic Designer and i need some picture of the stone wall for my new project, Relax it wont be long"

[+Team Dromomania]

Never lies. "I'm geocaching." And depending on the response I'll go into it deeper.

[+TerraViators]

"Geocaching."

 

I elaborate if there is a follow-up question. Sometimes there is, sometimes there isn't. It's been my expereince that most of the time people just don't care. They have their own lives to worry about.

[+BaylorGrad]

In 251 caches, I have only been asked once... And that was by furious muggles whose property I had accidentally ended up on.

 

Needless to say, I told the truth, and showed my GPS.

 

I would do the same thing if I encountered security or the police.

 

However, sometimes when I'm looking for a particular cache, I spend my time thinking about what I would tell a muggle if they walked up to me and asked what I was doing. Just to have a fun excuse on hand. I like to think of different excuses for each cache. If there are plants nearby, I'll think of something like a biology-related project with plant-life specimins, blah blah blah... Too bad I haven't gotten to use an excuse yet.

[+Chokecherry]

I never lie to non-cachers, security or LEO's. I already naturally look like someone who may be causing trouble and any of the people mentioned can really do a number on my day. All it would take is one non-cacher calling the police about a suspicious person and I would be spending the better part of my day explaining how I couldn't possibly be causing trouble.

 

So I basically explain that I'm geocaching. I tell people what the website is. If I have my phone on me I show them the application. I explain what geocaching is. If they're curious about it I'll invite them to join in the search for the cache with me. I had one non-cacher who wasn't curious about the hobby but more skeptical of what I was doing when I was at a cache site so I showed him the cache and he was just fine with it after that.

 

I just find it infinitely better to be honest than to play little games.

[+SwineFlew]

I am honest to security or LEO's. But to non-cachers, it depends on the situation.

 

One time I meet another cacher at GZ (at a public park) to hunt for a cache that was hard to find. It was a homemade cache and took some time to make and it was in the back of the park where nobody go to. Well, this very curious non-cacher came up on us and wonder what we were doing. We were honest of what we were doing, but we were the last one that found it. There was no way a non-muggle can find that cache on their own. I got a good feeling that non-cacher took it. So,I dont like to tell people what I am doing sometime in fear they will steal it.

[+user13371]

I tell the truth whether it's a security person, local resident, or just curious passerby. What's the point of lying?

 

But I don't mention geocaching right away. I usually say something like "I'm on a bit of a scavenger hunt" and if they press the matter will show them the GPS, the clues, etc. Never once had a negative reaction from anyone, must be my friendly smile.

[+dfx]

I'd rather not waste time trying to explain what geocaching is, so I usually say something like "it's part of a game".

[+narcissa]

I don't use an excuse. I just explain what I'm doing as simply as possible. "I'm playing a game with my GPS" is usually enough.

[+Sol seaker]

Law or security, tell the truth.

 

other muggles depends.

 

If it's kids or teenagers, I will most likely say, "why are you asking?"

 

Adults I'll tell the truth, unless they look suspicious or weird. Then I'll say, "why are you asking?" or "walking" or anything that comes to mind. I don't have to explain myself or my GPS to anyone but the police. I could answer "tap dancing, what are you doing?" if I'm in the mood.

[+Markwell]

3621 days of caching, I've NEVER been approached by an official - security guard or law enforcement. Of course I choose my caches that are in deep woods of parks and similar places. If I were ever approached my single word initial response: "Geocaching"

[+Don_J]

Five years and I've been asked by muggles five times. Surprisingly, two of those were on the same day, a few weeks ago. My answer definitely depends on the muggle, but it is generally to explain exactly what I am doing.

 

We had a lady walking down the other side of the street, cross over and ask if we worked for the county, we said no and replied, well I do. She points to the building we were looking at and says that her office is inside and she was wondering what we were doing. We told her exactly what we were doing. She wished us luck and went on her way. Later that day we had found the cache on the fence outside of a historic house, and were signing the log when the caretaker startled us. We gave him the same explanation and asked if the placement was okay. No problem, have fun.

 

In my early caching career, I used to make up silly excuses. I told a bunch of kids that I was looking for snakes and they offered to help. That one backfired. I was also looking for a cache at trail junction kiosk when a guy arrived on his bike and stopped to rest. After about five minutes the guy comes over and asked what I was looking for. I put a crazy look in my eyes and said very quietly, "I don't know, but I will when I find it". That guy was out of there in about three seconds. At least I didn't lie.

[+KI4HLW]

I told a bunch of kids that I was looking for snakes and they offered to help. That one backfired.

 

I would be upset with you stealing my excuse, but after it backfired on me too you can have it! LINK TO LOG

 

As I look back over the log I'm laughing because I had noted I was sitting in a parking lot writting the log on my cell phone while wasting time waiting for to Cops parked at the next FTF to leave.

[4wheelin_fool]

O boy!

You are so excited cause you will Discover so many caches today.

Your destination is Belgrade* (Serbia,capital city) so you dont have to much job there.

"camera,check!"

"GPS, Check!"

"money,personal stuff check!"

"Pen,Trade items Check!

"Head.... check!"

so you're off.

Your first destination is Avala*(mountain near Belgrade),you're there, found first,second and Third cache,signed put them back and left.

Huh?! 1 hour passed Like you said "kalimegdan"(famous fortress i Belgrade)

Wait.. Kalimegdan is my next Spot! Awesome!

You got there "cleaned up" first cache. Next is near famous church of st. Ruica.

Hmm.. Hint is non helpful real riddle so its givin you a pain.

"muggles" are around you they are everywhere.

Appending to the hint and GPS coord. Cache is IN the Wall.

Searching.....

 

searching about 10 minutes. AHA! You found it! Little plastic "can" with Log and trade item! you cant wait to open it! "it must be something valuable in there" you said.

 

Excuse me, What are you doing? Some guy with sign security on his jacket with Badge who approves that he is from security.

You looked him into his eyes and you said.....

 

 

 

Just tell him that the site is a dead drop for classified material that you are sending to Turkey as a spy.

 

And then allow him to look at the trinkets and logbook.

Edited February 7, 2011 by 4wheelin_fool

[+GeoReapers]

I have said I wsa lost but generally I explain what it is that I am doing and we now have a supply of trail cards in our cache bag, just in case.

[+LukeTrocity]

I have the "what is geocaching" video saved ok my phone. That does a better job explaining than I ever could. People are also less inclined to think your insane after watching it.