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Get a life!


trelane

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I love geocaching, but I frequently get comments like, "Oh my God, get a life!"

I usually reply to such things with the old cliche, "Don't knock it if you

ain't tried it!" I get tired of people slamming my hobby; like it doesn't

measure up somehow.

 

How do you respond to such rude remarks about geocaching?

 

Regards.

 

- Trelane

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quote:
Originally posted by SquireOfGothos:

How do you respond to such rude remarks about geocaching?


I don't deal with such closed minded people. If I have to for business or other reasons, I keep it strictly business. Those people wouldn't make a very good addition to the activity, anyway.

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Just ask them what they do in their spare time.

 

Then as they start talking about their hobbies, start tearing them down and see how they take it.

 

Most of the people I now have to deal with at work think sitting around drinking beer and watching the grass grow is a fine trip for the weekend. But I usually just get on with my life and let them sit around and get fatter and slower and more closed minded.

 

And the b!tch slap thing works well also.

 

logscaler.

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quote:
Originally posted by logscaler:

Most of the people I now have to deal with at work think sitting around drinking beer and watching the grass grow is a fine trip for the weekend.


 

Umm... and, whats wrong with that?

 

MiGO

__________________________

Caching with a clue....

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I don't tell people. I tell a person, if they seem like they would enjoy it. Its like searching the Matrix for the individuals who are ready to have their eyes opened to the reality hidden around them.

 

I show them the door, its up to them to follow the white rabbit.

 

icon_rolleyes.gif Boy, was that corny, or what?

 

Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

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Huh. That's wierd. Everytime I explain geocaching, I usually get "Oh, that's COOL!"

 

I tend to emphasize the magic of finding great locations that you never knew about before. I usually bring up this fact: "Would you believe a big, georgeous WATERFALL in the trees, all dating from the beginning of time hiding in the middle of the suburbs?? I found that because of geocaching!" The usual response is "WOW!" (Referring to the "Lost?" cache in Portland, OR)

 

Then, while I have the audience, I get to tell them what it's like to go to Los Angeles and take two locals who THINK they know their city out geocaching, and the satisfaction of watching these friends say "I didn't know THIS was here! Thank you!!!" I tell them about the Greystone Cottage cache in LA and the magic of THAT place!

 

By the time I say: "You can throw a dart at a map of North America, go there, and find some incredible locations that even the locals don't know about!", the listener is reacting: 'I have to check this website out! How do you spell that again? WHERE'S A PEN and paper? I gotta check this out!"

 

I guess it must all be in the delivery. I emphasize the magic of hidden locations you'd never know about... that to me, the cache becomes besides the point, really.

 

If you can convey this magic of geocaching, yet all your listener hears is 'some geek with a GPS looking for tupperware', then, well, you have yourself a nice social filter.. a way of filtering out folks who... err... how to put this?

 

There are those who let their love of new things of life, of curiosity, of discovery, of a kind of playful inner-spirit magic that reaches back to memories of finding easter eggs at age 5 placed by ones you love, to keeping your mind open towards finding greater things, both real and emotional, as you grow up and grow on...

 

...the ones who have lost this, who just become drinking and watching-TV lumps on the weekend waiting for another workweek until they are too old and find there is no more time to try and find the bright hidden gifts of life itself; they are the ones who sadly need to get some life in the sense of inner spirit...

 

...as we can just shake our heads at THEM yelling at us to "Get a life".

 

Makes ya wonder... is it worth it trying to show a beautiful rainbow to a blind person?

 

-Elana (a.k.a. "Sparrowhawk")

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Generally, I don't try to convert people. If some one is interested in it, I'll explain it. I also have a lot of other outdoor interests, so it's not the only activity people who know me think when I say I went hiking or whatever. If all someone ever did was talk geocaching, I might say to them to get a life.

 

"All of us are standing in the mud, but some of us are looking at the stars." Oscar Wilde

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I don't usually get rude remarks, but I have recieved a few faces that scream "what are you nutz???" Then they ask why I do as I do.... I just reply back with---- What are your hobbies again????... OH TV ---- thats great, you sit on your couch doing nothing on your day off!!!!

 

NOSEEUMS--High Protein Low Calorie unpacked trail snacks!!!!

See You In the Woods!!!

Natureboy1376

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I ran into some people who thought geocaching was "too easy" when I described it to them.

 

I challenged them to a hunt, they came along. I let them use the GPS, and just followed. THey found their first cache, and snickered, as if to say, HAH! Too Easy I told you so. Ok.

 

Then they said they wanted to go to another nearby cache, which was over a mile away. No problem with me. SO we hiked onward. I had told them that the GPS is measuring "by the crow", they said, Hah! We'll make it. Ok by me.

 

What they didn't realize, and no way was I gonna pass up the opportunity for them to make complete butt heads of themselves, was that "by the crow" includes measuring straight through the mountain (which we climbed up then back down the other side and then came back again). Four exhaustive hours later we returned to the car. LOL! I had a great hike, they taught themselves their own lesson.

 

"The more I study nature, the more I am amazed at the Creator."

- Louis Pasteur

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"Get a life" is probably the dumbest thing ever uttered, regardless of whether or not it's caching related. What one person finds important/entertaining, etc. may be different than what another person does. A co-worker who spends all of his time golfing says "get a life" to someone who spends time caching is lame. Caching IS having a life, just like golfing, knitting, attending wine-tastings, etc.

 

~robert

www.CacheGear.com

Proud member of the Maryland Geocaching Society

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Then, while I have the audience, I get to tell them what it's like to go to Los Angeles and take two locals who THINK they know their city out geocaching, and the satisfaction of watching these friends say "I didn't know THIS was here! Thank you!!!" I tell them about the Greystone Cottage cache in LA and the magic of THAT place

Sounds interesting. Is this cache still up? I tried searching geocaching for a reference to Greystone and only caches in Canada come up.

 

------------------

 

BTW, my wife thought I was a wacko too until she found her first cache. Now she won't even let me see my GPS when we search together! lol ;)

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I get tired of people slamming my hobby; like it doesn't<BR>measure up somehow.<BR><BR>How do you respond to such rude remarks about geocaching?<BR><BR>Regards.<BR><BR> - Trelane

Would these be the same people that have such exciting hobbies as Bird Watching, Stamp Collecting, and etc? I'm not knocking their choice of how they spend free time, as they should do the same.

 

By the way, cool points for the Star Trek reference.

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I love geocaching, but I frequently get comments like, "Oh my God, get a life!"<BR>I usually reply to such things with the old cliche, "Don't knock it if you<BR>ain't tried it!"  I get tired of people slamming my hobby; like it doesn't<BR>measure up somehow.<BR><BR>How do you respond to such rude remarks about geocaching?<BR><BR>Regards.<BR><BR> - Trelane

I've never been approached with that attitude, but the way I look at it; I did get a life when I started a new hobby that excited me, met new friends that shared the same interest and has the same zest for life that I have gained!

Edited by TotemLake
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Most of the people I know (except my kids) think caching is stupid and a waste of time. Why waste your time outside seeing new places, solving puzzles and getting exercise when you could be watching the fine quality shows on network T.V.?

 

Ya just ain't "with it" if you don't know all the "ins and outs" of the "batchelor" (no pun intended)

 

Yech! :)

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It's usually a comment along the lines of "to each his/her own". If it's by someone at work, I throw it back in their face that I'm the only one in the center that understands how to quickly locate maps/images of anywhere on the comptuer. This is especially helpful if I'm sending on of the helicopters to a search, and I prefer being able to better visualize where my helicopters are while on a mission, and if they go down.

 

I'm only one of 2 there that knows what the hell lat/long are and how to use them.

 

[edit]The pilot appreciates it very much. Often times, the requesting agency doesn't have lat/long, but in minutes I'm able to provide that for them. Makes their job of finding the search area effortless.

[/edit]

Edited by Brian - Team A.I.
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by logscaler:<BR>Most of the people I now have to deal with at work think sitting around drinking beer and watching the grass grow is a fine trip for the weekend.<HR></blockquote><BR><BR><BR>Umm... and, whats wrong with that?<BR><BR><A HREF="http://www.mi-geocaching.org" TARGET=_blank>MiGO</a><BR>__________________________<BR>Caching with a clue....

 

That's what you do after a nice day spent chasing down 'caches :)

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I never had any one tell me to "get a life" (at least not because of Geocaching).

 

But I usually only bring it up or describe it to people who I think will be interested in it or understand. Some people have said it was interesting but didn't sound like thier thing, others have, indeed said in effect "Why on Earth would you spend your time doing that?" but were willing to accept it as part of my life without negative comment.

 

I can't recall an outright rude comment about it. If I ever get one I'll just shrug it off. The World doesn't need any more animosity, especially over as trivial an insult as that.

 

I wish everyone peaceful and safe Geocaching!

 

Also (slightly OT): Let us give thinks this Thursday for the great work of the Groundspeak people in getting the forums back up and running!

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When I first told my dad about it he was less than interested. I convinced him to go with me to go and find a couple and then see what he thinks. After the first one he was like, "hey this is pretty cool, I thought is was going to be stupid". We immediately went back home and downloaded another dozen finds and found them over the next couple of day.

 

Axle

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