Originally Posted by
Team V3
My attitude is that it just goes to show they are doing their job. If a police asks me what I am doing I would tell them about geocaching (if they are already not aware of it). While I think stealth is good, there comes a point when too much stealth becomes not stealthy at all. Also, I am a firm believer that there is nothing wrong with what we are doing so we should not feel paranoid, just respectful. I think each one of us as cachers should be doing it tastefully and remember that we can all be "goodwill ambassadors" of the game. That is just as important (if not more so) than stealth.
And again I agree with TV3 . . . in fact I used to be really, really stealthy . . . and then I realized that by attempting to be sneaky I was probably looking mighty suspicious to any would be watchers.
I mean to say, if you're not doing anything wrong, why hide the fact that you're geocaching . . . I've found that like many things in life if you act like whatever you're doing is perfectly normal and not hiding the fact, most folks will look and assume that whatever you're doing is legal and OK . . . at the most some of the more curious folks will ask what you are doing giving you an excuse to explain geocaching.
Let me give you an example . . . if you're sneaking around in a parking lot next to a mall driving in circles (well that would be me with my Magellan) trying to conceal your GPSr someone will most likely think something is up . . . a drug deal is going down, some would be Al Anti-Macy's Quaida terrorist is striking a blow against rampant US commer******m or you're a kidnapper who is looking to kidnap some 52-year-old Macy shopper . . . but if you're out in the open with the GPSr and looking like you're there for a reason you might get some looks and maybe some questions . . . possibly Security might stop by . . . but if you're out front and open about things there's usually no problem. At best, no one bothers you . . . at worse Security or the local law enforcement stops by and asks you some questions . . . although I suspect many folks in LE know about geocaching.
As I said, if you act normal and don't try to hide or be stealthy, generally things work out pretty well . . . although there was that time in college when my two buddies and I "snuck" into a free dinosaur laser light show at the Concord Planetarium by claiming to be with the college newspaper and radio station (which was technically true . . . although I never wrote an article for the paper, my "photographer" buddy never had any film in the camera and the micro-casette recorder being used by my radio news buddy didn't have any batteries) . . . so maybe being sneaky sometimes works. 
"Courage is not the absence of fear, but the realization that there is something more important than fear."
"Death is only one of many ways to die."
using caution around schools is a no-brainer.
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