Caches as part of Gift Economy

[+arrowroot]

The Gift Economy, where you do something nice for someone, with the expectation that other people will do something nice for you (as seen in the movie "Pay it Forward" and the "Mars" series by Kim Stanley Robinson) is one of the reasons I find caching fun.

 

I put out a cache for others to find trinkets, enjoy a walk, expand their horizons. Others have laid out toys (or the occasional Where's George buck), plotted puzzles and so on, with no expectation of a profitable return.

 

This is a good thing.

 

There's side benefits: We trash out. This does nothing for me, but makes the parks & woods more pleasant for the next visitor -- whether or not they're caching.

 

And it's growing: Charity cache events, the Earth Day stuff being planned, etc. are just the tip of the iceberg. I'm a devout capitalist, but this gift stuff is really contagious.

 

Play on!

 

I am Arrowroot, son of Arrowshirt. I have many names, you know

[+Maclir]

quote:

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Originally posted by arrowroot:

There's side benefits: We trash out. This does nothing for me, but makes the parks & woods more pleasant for the next visitor -- whether or not they're caching.

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I think the "trash out" is something we should push more - and publicise more. Last weekend I "trashed out" something that was a classic - a foam beer bottle holder (in Australia we called them "stubby holders") with the words on one side: "Thank you for being part of our Special Day" and on the other side: "Matt and Chariety April 13, 2002".

 

This was in a national park - how do you know you are in the south? When the redneck wedding you attend gives out studdy holders to all the guests.

[+Sissy-n-CR]

quote:

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Originally posted by arrowroot:

The Gift Economy, where you do something nice for someone, with the expectation that other people will do something nice for you (as seen in the movie "Pay it Forward" and the "Mars" series by Kim Stanley Robinson) is one of the reasons I find caching fun.

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I thought the "Pay It Forward" concept was to do something nice for someone and expect them to do something nice for someone else. What I got out of it was the pure unselfishness of not expecting to be paid back, thus the use of "Forward" in the title.

 

Otherwise, I agree. We place a cache so someone can find it. Hopefully, they will be thoughtful enough to trade nicely enough so the next person will be as pleased as they were.

 

CR