whatcha gonna do... whatcha gonna do when they come for you?And, last night... they did.
Although I have some tendency toward defiance, I am generally a very law-abiding citizen, quite unacquainted with local law enforcement. Apparently, however, searching for a geocache (my new-found hobby), in a historic cemetery, in khakis and a dress shirt, on your way home from work, at 6:30 PM, on an overcast day... will get the cops called on you for "suspicious activity"!
The geocaching community, as a whole, encourages responsibility, in an effort to maintain a good reputation for the hobby. Geocaching requires the permission of the land owner/manager before a cache hide will be approved and published, encourages environmental responsibility, and advocates leaving cache areas better than you found them, through CITO (Cache In Trash Out). Cachers are generally out to have a good time venturing (legally) to places they may not normally go, and are typically cooperative with authority figures.
Just then, I noticed, in my rear-view mirror, two police cars pull up and block my car from exiting the gas well lane. Two officers approached my car to question my "suspicious activity".
I explained that I was a geocacher... blank stare.
I then defined geocaching, and one of the two officers had heard of it (good for me).
They called in my license plates and driver's license, and asked me a few more questions about geocaching:
I'll chalk it up to a geocaching milestone: 1st time to answer to the cops for "suspicious activity"... find #39. Based on stories from other geocachers, it'll probably not be the last occurrence!
I explained that I was a geocacher... blank stare.
I then defined geocaching, and one of the two officers had heard of it (good for me).
They called in my license plates and driver's license, and asked me a few more questions about geocaching:
Officer: So, what kind of stuff do you find?With that, they wished me a good evening, and sent me on my way.
Me: Mostly camouflaged containers with a log book to sign for proof that you found it.
Officer: And what's the prize?
Me: There isn't really a prize... the fun is in finding them and keeping score of your finds.
Officer: Who hides them for you to find?
Me: Other geocachers.
Officer: But there's a grand prize, or something, when the game's over?
Me: No, not really. It's an ongoing hobby/game... there are over a million caches currently hidden worldwide.
Officer: So, it's just like a big club that hides and finds things for fun?
Me: Pretty much.
Officer: Hmmm... I'll have to read more about this.
Me: http://www.geocaching.com/.
I'll chalk it up to a geocaching milestone: 1st time to answer to the cops for "suspicious activity"... find #39. Based on stories from other geocachers, it'll probably not be the last occurrence!
I have two observations on this.
ReplyDelete#1. I >>LOVE<< old cemeteries! I have since I was a kid. My grandma would take me out to old family cemeteries, and we would inevitably spend more time milling about looking at strangers headstones, etc than what we came there to see to begin with. We have two old cemeteries here in town, and a couple of times a year I find myself wandering around, pondering the past, wondering what life was like in the days of old when whoever lies under this stone still walked around the little town I live in. I find it so peaceful, and relaxing.
#2 - GeoCaching. As a 911 operator and a geocacher - I all too familiar with the "suspicious person" calls that GeoCaching creates. I have been on both ends (the one the police shows up upon, and the one sending out the police to check on someone else).
I have a belief... That MOST cops actually DO know what GeoCaching is all about (we get enough calls on 'em) but they play "dumb" just to get you (or their "subject") talking. They can then observe for signs of nervousness (even I got nervous when facing the police while (legally) geocaching - I think that is human nature), signs of intoxication, or influence of illegal substances.
With two of them there, they may have been playing "good cop / bad cop" (heard of geocaching / have not heard of geocaching) - to test your "believability"
GeoCaching does put together a "brochure" that you can print out and keep a copy with you - to hand to "muggles" or police officers to help them understand it (and add a bit more legitimacy to the story your telling them) It's a two sided "tri-fold" you can toss in you car or whatever...
(LINK
Hey FoF, thanks for the perspective and the "brochure" link. The good cop/bad cop thing is totally plausible. North Jackson is a very small town, but there are a half dozen, or so, caches within the jurisdiction... I find it hard to believe that was the first time he had heard of one. Thankfully, it was a very cordial exchange.
ReplyDeleteWe have a cemetery in our town that is divided by a river (we have 2 rivers flowing through our small town, merging just out of town, so everything is divided by a river!), but connected by a pedestrian bridge. My [daylight] walking route often takes me through the cemeteries... peaceful.
My wife commented the other day that she didn't think it was respectful to cache in a cemetery. I disagreed. It seems Geocachers are, as a whole, a pretty respectable bunch of folks, and I'd like to think that many of the people laid to rest there would like the idea of good, clean, respectful fun going on around them... and, that maybe in the process of searching for a cache, someone would stop to read their name on a stone, and they would be that much less forgotten.