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Maybe that's why they call it a "Park"!


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Since I don't have children, I didn't have much occasion to frequent local parks before getting involved in geocaching...so I never really paid much attention to this before. But it seems that at many of the city parks I've gone to, I see people (indivuals, usually) just sitting in their vehicles, not seeming to be DOING anything...no evidence of them eating lunch, or any kids on the equipment that they might be watching, etc. The areas haven't struck me as suspicious places where drug deals or sexual rendevous would be taking place.

 

I didn't think too much of it the first time I saw it, but it seems like I've seen people like this at between 40-60% of the city park caches I've been to.

 

I just don't understand what would be fun about going to a park, just to sit in your car and look at the empty playground. Why not get out of the vehicle, and enjoy some fresh air? (I always feel conspicuous as I'm putting my gear together to head out for my search...especially if they're still there when I get back to my car.)

 

Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed people like this? Or does anyone here actually DO this? Maybe it's relaxing to sit in the car and listen to the radio. Personally, I'd rather be outside the car, or taking a scenic drive. icon_wink.gif

 

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"I may be slow, but at least I'm sweet!" 196939_800.jpg

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quote:
Originally posted by jhwf4:

 

A lot of times people are just sitting there in there car making out.


 

While I think there are better places for it, I can at least understand the motivation for couples who are making out. But what I want to know is what kind of kicks people get out of just sitting alone in their car, doing NOTHING. (Ummm...at least I hope they're doing nothing. Ahem. icon_eek.gif)

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There have been several times that I have been "creeped away" and from a hunt and comee back later because of people just sitting in there cars seemingly doing absolutely nothing at various city and county parks right near the cache areas.

 

This past Friday I went to do some cache maintenance and when I arrived at the park my car was the only one in the lot. When I returned to the car about 2 hours later there was a second car in the lot, a red sports car parked about 20 feet away under a weeping willow tree, almost as though it was trying to be concealed. There was very loud music coming from the car but I couldn't see anyone because the tree ranches were in the way. I started removing my gear and loading it into my car, and after a few moments they must have notice me because the music suddenly shut off. I got into my car and started the engine but sat there for a couple of minutes wiping sweat off and drinking the rest of my water... it had been a hundred degree day with really high humidity. I wrote down a few notes about my maintenance and followed that with a phone call, so I was sitting there a good 3 or 4 minutes before I drove off. This must have freaked the occcupants of the other car out because they suddenly started driving away. However, they started doing so at the exact moment I did, which I think freaked them out all the more. They stopped, but I did to, then they started again, as did I. As both cars drove to the exit I could finally see the occcupants: three teenage boys -- and the one in the back seat was turned completelty around staring at me out the back window. I really don't think I want to know what they were up to. icon_smile.gif

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I can't speak for all such individuals you may encounter, but...

Once apon a time, I used to work in an office. In a cubicle. Inside. I had to wear a suit. And a tie. And other annoying inhuman indignities.

I would often drive out each day to eat my lunch and listen to the news on the radio, and park somewhere to do so. Just to get away from all that stuff and see something besides cubicle walls and fluorescent lighting. Depending on the weather, to get out and walk around would have meant getting my work clothes dirty/sweaty, so sometimes I'd just sit in the car for my 30 minutes of peace.

Of course now, I work from home and I can wear whatever I want (or nothing at all) and I can go geocaching during the week if my schedule allows and I can spend time with my kids and go for a swim after lunch and all sorts of other great stuff, so I don't sit in my car at the park any more. icon_smile.gif

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quote:
Originally posted by infosponge:

 

I would often drive out each day to eat my lunch and listen to the news on the radio, and park somewhere to do so. Just to get away from all that stuff and see something besides cubicle walls and fluorescent lighting. Depending on the weather, to get out and walk around would have meant getting my work clothes dirty/sweaty, so sometimes I'd just sit in the car for my 30 minutes of peace.


 

I had thought of that scenario, but couldn't figure out why people didn't get out of their car, and enjoy the fresh air at a picnic table or something. I hadn't thought of the sweaty clothes thing (and maybe I just happened to catch them AFTER they had finished eating, but not before their lunch/dinner break was over). But it still seems unlikely that my timing would be just such EVERY single time. Plus, some of the days were perfect beautiful out.

 

I'll chalk perhaps half of them off to a scenario like this...but I'm still convinced that a good number of them were just weird. icon_razz.gif (Of course, who am I to talk when I go alone to parks and wander around in the wooded areas, looking at an odd gadget in my hand? icon_wink.gif)

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I'll second the ''get away from work and listen to the radio'' thing -- I've done that. Grabbed lunch, finished it in half an hour, and just sat in my car at the park listening to talk radio for the next half hour.

 

If it's a hot day, they might also be taking advantage of their car's air conditioning. I've been tempted to do that on some of the rare warm days around here (like today!).

 

'''I wonder what Latitude or Longitude I've got to?' (Alice had no idea what Latitude was, or Longitude either, but thought they were nice grand words to say.)'' -- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

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It could also be an allergy thing. I often park somewhere nice and listen to the radio. If I get out of my car, I get covered in pollen.

 

As my doctor put it "And then there are some people with lots and lots of allergies, and those we throw the kitchen sink at." You know how some people have allergies in the spring? Some of us have them all year long. icon_eek.gif Except in the dead of winter, when it's raining a lot, I'm sneezing from one darned thing or another.

 

For finding a cache, it's worth it to go out and get covered in pollen. For a half-hour at lunch where I can't do anything but listen to the radio or read a book, it's not.

 

It's also a great way to de-stress. I've only had a couple of bonehead bosses (knocks on wood) but when they would say something particularly inane, it was nice to be able to go out to my car, park someplace pretty, and contemplate the best way to get a job working for someone with two brain cells to rub together.

 

It works, too - my current boss is really good. icon_biggrin.gif

 

Shannah

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I've parked and "done nothing" at both the beach and parks. What I'm actually doing is...

 

1) just finished eating lunch but its not time to go back to work.

 

or 2) I've driven a couple of hours for an important meeting and because I hate to be late I arrive a half hour or hour early (depending on distance) and I sit in the car till its time to drive to the nearby meeting place. If you think its weird to be sitting at a park apparently doing nothing I have to tell you that its much worse to sit in a residential area for a while apparently doing nothing. It usually results in a cop visiting you within a half hour of parking.

 

or 3) I'm meeting someone in the park and they haven't shown up yet.

 

--- yrium ---

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Since I work nights and sometimes cache hunt during the day before work, I've noticed the same thing, and I'll agree with most of the previous posts that these are office people just getting out of their cubes for a little break from work. Where I work is in an industrial park in the middle of nowhere, and some of my coworkers just go sit in their cars in the parking lot during our breaks. I've also seen quite a few public service types sleeping in their vehicles at secluded parks, like phone technicians, gas and power people, construction people, postal employees, etc. So in my situation, I don't see anything suspicious in the activity, other than knowing that it's probably responsible for some of the rate hikes with the phone, mail, and power. 15T

 

www.1800goguard.com

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Around here, the gay population seems to think that our parks are a great place for sexual encounters. Often times the lone driver is really looking for some action. This tends to creep people away from caches in certain of our parks. icon_mad.gif

 

By appointment to the Court of HRM Queen Mikki I.

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quote:
Originally posted by Renegade Knight:

Some people are taking a break from work and doing nothing. If they stayed at work they would get sucked into doing something and would not get any break. Nothing could mean reading a book thats in their lap. Or taking a nap that would not be appropriate in their office.


 

I get a one hour lunch every day and it only takes ten minutes to eat my sack lunch. I enjoy parking in the shade at a nearby park and listening to sports talk radio. If I stay at the office the interuptions are constant and the break is non-existant. Now if someone hides a cache nearby I will do a lunchtime search icon_cool.gif Otherwise I'm happy just vegetating in the air conditioning, or on a cooler day rolling down the window and listening to the birds.

 

Rusty...

 

Rusty & Libby's Geocache Page

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I've parked for a couple of reasons:

 

When I was a teenager my best friend and I used to drive around A LOT! We would sometimes spend 8 or 10 hours on the road. You see, living out in the country there is not much to do so we'd cruise from small town to small town looking for friends. Sometimes we'd head out to the beach and check out the girls.

 

On more then one occasion, one or both of us would be having some typical teenage emotional problem. We'd end up driving around till we found a parking lot, like a park or playground, and we'd sit there and talk (or not talk, depending on the problem). It is something that my bud and I do to this day from time to time. We will just sit there an complain about our jobs or wives or whatever else. Sure, it might be a nice day but we'd seldom get out of the car.

 

The other reason I've parked is "parking" in the bilblical sense. Ok, not actual you-know-what but maybe first base (in the daytime.) Just sitting and chatting and holding each other in the parking lot of a park was fun. I still do this with my wife, although usually there is a 10 year old in the back seat with his gameboy and we keep it PG! icon_smile.gif

 

OTHER PEOPLE'S REASONS

On a couple of occasions I've pulled into a parking lot and found teenagers smoking pot in their car. I've also seen people doing more then just going to first base in their cars, or so it would seem with the windows all steamed up!

 

Rob

Mobile Cache Command

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One of my first cache hunts was in a small park on the edge of Terre Haute, IN. A buddy of mine and I searched for a long time for it (turns out it had been archived but not reported as archived). It was a February day, about noon, and unseasonably warm.

 

We saw a lot of people sitting in their cars parked, but what took the cake was the guy who was deep in the woods, standing on some sort of concrete platform, and wailing away at some trees with a pair of nunchucks. We slowly and quietly beat our retreat and still wonder what the guy had against trees! icon_wink.gif

 

Bret

 

"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field.

When a man found it, he hid it again."

Mt. 13:44

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When I tried my hand at outside sales (I hated it) there would be many times where I had up to an hour between appointments and I would go park by the lake or a city park and listen to the radio, read something or just watch for the "fine lady joggers" icon_wink.gif

 

Pat in Louisiana

 

I never get lost. I simply investigate alternate destinations.

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