a cautionary tale

From: Christopher Martin (cscm@edgenet.net) | Date: 2001-08-23 07:05:35 UTC-04:00

This past Saturday afternoon, my friend CZF was letterboxing in
Charlestown, RI,
with her three children. Some public-spirited citizen, who apparently mistook
CZF's searching under bushes as the actions of a drunk or deranged person,
called the police. Many more police showed up than one might imagine are
required to handle a 115-pound, legally blind mother of three. Officers from
the Department of Environmental Management were even on hand to make sure she
wasn't doing something evil to the plant life. It should be noted that
CZF was
letterboxing in a public area.

CZF's attempts to explain about letterboxing were met with skepticism.
She had
not yet located the box she was looking for and had placed her
letterboxing kit,
including her log book, under a bush. Confused and flustered by the officers'
questions, and angered by their insinuations that she was "criminally
neglecting" her children, CZF was unable to find her kit to prove her story.
The police ran her driver's license and her plate and questioned her about her
Medic Alert ID. Eventually they allowed her and her children to leave without
filing charges, but they sent three (3!) cruisers to follow her all the
way home
to Narragansett.

CZF had to return the next day at 5am to find her letterboxing kit, and
to score
a hard-won stamp.

While this example of extreme overkill on the part of local authorities may be
rare, letterboxers should be aware of how their actions may be perceived by
non-letterboxers. Cell phones are now ubiquitous and allow people to report
vague suspicions as well as legitimate tips far easier than ever before. I
would suggest that letterboxers should make sure to always carry ID, as
well as
a printout explaning what letterboxing is. An adult companion might also be a
good idea -- the LbNA disclaimer notes that children should not letterbox
alone,
but mentions nothing about the trouble that adults can get into while
letterboxing with children!

It's a sick world, people. Stay on your toes.

Regards,

CSCM

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://members.efortress.com/cscm/
last update: 8.05.2001
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Re: [LbNA] a cautionary tale

From: Manx (batbrat@qwest.net) | Date: 2001-08-23 11:41:41 UTC-06:00

Christopher Martin wrote:

> Some public-spirited citizen, who apparently mistook
> CZF's searching under bushes as the actions of a drunk or deranged person,
> called the police.

> It's a sick world, people. Stay on your toes.
>
> Regards,
>
> CSCM

I hope the trauma and humiliation of the event fades off
quickly, and CZF can someday find humor in such a
ridiculous situation. I also hope her children weren't
negatively affected.

It reminds me of the time I competed in a charity event
with an organization I belonged to. We competed as a
team in a city-wide scavenger hunt against teams from
other organizations. Teams had to compete in costume,
so our team captain decided hobo costumes were
appropriate for a day spent dumpster diving and searching
for obscure junk. One of my teammates was a giant
of a man, sweet and shy, and he was so excited about
the scavenger hunt - he really looked the hobo part. At
the end of the event, there was a huge catered party for
all the paricipants at a nice hotel. My friend was enjoying
himself, piling his plate up at the buffet, when three
security guards came up to escort him out. The hosts
thought he was a homeless person who had crashed the
party. When he resisted, trying to explain he was
part of the event and in costume, the overzealous guards
got loud and jumpy, the partygoers stared wide-eyed.
Luckily he did have his friends there, and we were able
to call off the guards. We had a good laugh about it later,
but my friend was embarrassed and shaken up.

I think it's just generally a good idea to be extremely
discrete when seeking a box. I'd go as far as waiting
until there were no people around at all before I did
any looking.

M

Re: a cautionary tale

From: (rijester@hotmail.com) | Date: 2001-08-23 21:53:35 UTC

--- In letterbox-usa@y..., Christopher Martin wrote:
> Many more police showed up than one might imagine are
> required to handle a 115-pound, legally blind mother of three.
Officers from
> the Department of Environmental Management were even on hand to
make sure she
> wasn't doing something evil to the plant lifeEventually they
allowed her and her children to leave without
> filing charges, but they sent three (3!) cruisers to follow her all
the
> way home
> to Narragansett.

Wow, I didn't know that Charlestown cops were so "misguided." And
this is where we are having our fall gathering. My question is if
your friend is legally blind then who was driving her car? :-)

Jess Terrance

Re: a cautionary tale

From: (cscm@edgenet.net) | Date: 2001-08-24 19:15:31 UTC

--- In letterbox-usa@y..., rijester@h... wrote:

> My question is if
> your friend is legally blind then who was driving her car? :-)

She is partially sighted. One eye is completely blind, the other is
half blind. She can see as clearly as I can, but her field of vision
is limited. Cover both of your eyes with your hands, then spread the
pinky finger of your right hand apart from the other fingers. That's
what she can see. Her license restricts her to driving during
daylight hours when the weather is clear.

I've ridden with her and she does just fine.

CSCM