I don't usually like to get involved in these little domestic
squabbles, but I don't take well to being told to SHUT UP either,so
here's my three cents:

1. In just a little more than one year of letterboxing, we have
found well over 800 boxes and only 30 of them have been hitchers.
That's LESS THAN 4%, folks! (Doesn't exactly sound like the market
is flooded yet to me!)

2. Vic and Val, after what I presume to have been several years (?)
of letterboxing, actually seemed quite content JUST A FEW SHORT
MONTHS AGO to find their VERY FIRST HITCHER at one of our boxes.
(Yes, we check!) Now that they have grabbed a couple more, suddenly
they feel like COMPLAINING?!?!?! Well, all I can say is that if
certain folks do not like finding hitchers without the big bang
surprise element, then we would prefer that they either not come to
our boxes or that they leave any hitcher that might be found there
for other more appreciative letterboxers. We WANT our boxes to be
known for hitchers!( but mostly for newcomers, not for opportunists!)

3. We just LOVE finding hitchers, whether we find them by accident,
by hunch, by hint, or by dint of diligent research! We also love
hearing about other folks placing and finding hitchers - even those
we'll probably never see - as that has been a good way for us to
share vicariously in their joys and journeys. We'd hate to lose that
just because some folks might get annoyed, frustrated, or even
envious hearing about hitchers that they may or may not find. For
those who would complain about lack of secrecy or surprise, I still
like Laurette's suggestion that they simply delete offensive
messages,avoid known haunts, and MONITOR THEIR EXPECTATIONS!!! It
seems to me that folks who go out letterboxing nowadays EXPECTING to
find hitchers (either because they think there are too many or think
that they know where they are) are much more likely to end up
GRUMBLING, DISAPPOINTED and UNHAPPY, no matter how many they find,
whereas, for US, hitchers will always remain a DELIGHTFUL and
PRECIOUS SURPRISE, no matter how many there are or how much we know
of their whereabouts! I like to think of hitchers as little good
will ambassadors that encourage kindness, sharing, responsibility,
and cooperation. It's so nice to see people working together to keep
those hitchers moving for EVERYONE'S enjoyment. If fact right now I
can only think of one instance where someone personally kept a
hitcher out of circulation for OVER SIX MONTHS! (Yes, Tom, that
would be you with BURR from Nov 00 - Jun 01--- definitely not a good
way to keep the game afoot for others! :-) ) Anyway, it's great
to see so many people that are willing to share and spread the JOY
of hitchers, so I sincerely hope that we can all keep it up!

Thanks,

Wanda