I have to remember - People will always disappoint you...
I am having a hard time with this Tractor business. The need for people to do the minimum - cheat the switchback - so to speak. The whole idea for the tractor series was to give hardcore old school cachers what they wanted… Challenging cache hunts that took them on a nice hike in pretty places to well stocked caches with a nice little bonus at the end.
So Johnnie dreamed up this series born from a night of campfire camaraderie, imbibing and the telling of cache tales of the best caches. He wanted to create something people would remember fondly around a campfire for years to come. He even convinced me (wasn’t that hard) to join in on the creation. He and I both agreed these would probably be the last caches we would be putting out. So we wanted it to be really good.
So a year later… we put 4 caches out, each one in a nice spot and a nice hike. For 2 people who really hadn’t been out hiking in quite some time and both with medical issues, it wasn’t an easy task. Actually, the first hike was the hardest - about a 6 mile hike at an angle that was hard on our backs and legs. And since I didn’t take a lot of water with me… It was additionally difficult. We hid 3 boxes that day. Imagine carrying 2 ammo cans in… not very comfortable. But hey, anything to make this a great adventure… Right?
The next time we went out we hid 2 more caches. About 4 miles of hiking that day, one of them was up hill both ways. No kidding. We then went out several more times, together and alone to hide the keys (that weren’t cheap mind you). We did all this for the enjoyment of others. To create an adventure that would be fun and rewarding. All we asked in return was to follow things out the way we had it laid out to follow the rules. We set the rules up not for us, but for those who were following the adventures. To make things equal for everyone. So everyone would have the same opportunity as everyone else to experience the joy of finding a difficult cache. Of conquering it!
What happened next totally surprised me. I never thought people would be so ungrateful. First the fake find. The stealing of keys out of caches (which didn’t surprise me - just who stole them did). The cachers who didn’t want anyone to know they were looking for the caches but were helping others along the way. Then I can’t help but feel someone looked in my google account and got the locations to where we had dropped keys. That info was used to obtain a key unscrupulously from a cache, Because the Cache the key came from was never logged online by the cachers who claim to have the key. Then there was the taunting email I got from someone who created a sock puppet account just to send that email. I had to report it to Groundspeak. People who create these accounts are doing it because they are trying to be sneaky, they are close to you and they don’t want to be found out. But Before I reported it to groundspeak, I sent an email warning them of what I was going to do. They at that point could have contacted me to say “Hey! I was just kidding and it’s getting out of control” but no. Nothing. Not a peep. So what I figure is they had nothing but ill will towards me and the caches. What people don’t realize when they do such a thing is … Groundspeak knows who you are by your IP address. And now so do I. Then that same sock puppet started some crap on one of the cache pages. Playing games. I don't have time for that BS. The little time I have for finding caches is spent maintaining the tractor series. So ... I haven't been
How ungrateful. You try to do something nice and people just spit in your face. You invest a butt load of time, energy and money to give people what they ask for - a challenge. But what they really want is an easy way around that challenge. They don’t believe the rules are meant for them and justify breaking them or going around them. People were bitching to me about how they couldn’t afford driving all over Georgia looking for a key or they don’t have the time to do the searching. My answer to them… Don’t look for a key. Look for a different cache. Not every cache is for everyone. If you choose to do that cache, you accept the rules and challenges that go along with it. If you choose to go around the rules and take a shortcut you didn’t earn that find… the only thing you have earned is the name CHEATER.
Thank God for The First to Find Boys! They worked so freaking hard. I was so hoping they would find it first. What they got in return for all that hard work and perseverance was something we wanted for, but couldn’t give them… a sense of accomplishment, satisfaction, Pride and of course relief. I guess I should be grateful that someone did enjoy this cache and got everything out of it that we intended for them. The rest… well for those that justify their actions one way or another… Whatever gets you through the day people.