Ever Met an unknown 'Cacher , whilst NOT 'Caching?

[SG-3]

OK, this subject is a bit confusing (made more so by the letter-limit in the subject line!), but let me give you an idea about what I'm on about:
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As you may be aware ( http://forum.geocaching.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=10723 ) Kmart have Sistemas at 30% off. As an employee of the local "Mighty Kay" I've know about the sale for some time, and have been monitoring stock levels keenly as D-Day approached.
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I had some purchases in mind!
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Throughout the first day, I would pass by the aisle in question, hoping to (a) ensure we still had the desired items for when I knocked off, and (b) maybe catch some 'cacher I knew restocking their own stash of Hide-Container goodness!
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By the time I knocked off I was both disappointed, and relieved, that very little had moved from the "Geocaching Section" of the store! I grabbed my two 2-litre, and one 3-litre containers, and raced to the checkouts.
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The checkout operator was unfamiliar to me (I used to know every one when I was payroll clerk for nine years!); I plonked my precious objects on the counter and handed over my Fly-Buys card and staff discount card. She scanned the containers, looked at the price they scanned at, and said to me "They're a good price!" I replied with an excited "Yes, they are!" She then said, "So, you use them for food storage?..." And I thought, "Ummm, do I go into Geek mode, and explain to this nice person about the Madness?" but before I could fumble with some words, she added "... or something else.... maybe... geocaching?!?" I blushed and said "Yes! Do you..." And she responded "What is your 'real' name?" So we swapped REAL names, and realised both were familiar with each other's caches/activities!
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I won't name names, but it was a crazy experience!
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Anyone have a similar story to share?

[fidjit]

Maybe it's just Tassie but......

When I first started caching after doing our first few R12 mentioned to his best friend at school that he'd done some caching on the weekend and where we'd done them.
"Think that's one of ours" says his best friend.
Turns out that his dad was Malbena
He's been inactive lately, but I've been trying to get him back into it

( Also turns out that another of his friends, whos Dad I've known for years is Fairly Magic )




Again, maybe it's just Tassie and it's two degrees of seperation

[Papa Bear_Left]

Since, as theUMP, I come into contact with most of the caching community at some time, I've had a few people realise that they know me in Real Life.

Two I went to school with (and this is from a town of about 100 people* ) and a couple were customers.

There's probably others but, unless they have their muggle names on their profile or emails or something, there's no way of knowing unless I either run into them at a cache/event or see them in a cache photo.


* these days, there were more then, like most country towns, sadly.

[THENANKS]

I was at work one day (I am a teacher) when a parent of a child I had taught in a previous year came over and said 'Hi'. We passed the time of day for a minute or two and then she asked if I was a geocacher. I was a bit stunned. <br><br>

Apparently she and her family had given it a try and found a couple of our caches. She checked out our profile and as our caching name is a shortened form of our surname and also the fact that our occupations are listed she took a punt. <br><br>

Unfortunately, they never really got into it but I know her kids had a blast when I ran a geocaching "Enrichment Activity" at school one day. They thought they were 'in the know'.

[Bewilderbeest]

I attended a training course recently. As the 'icebreaker', the course presenter asked us to tell the group our name, position and favourite pasttime.

I declared that my favourite pasttime was geocaching, and was very surprised to find another person on the course told me during the morning tea break that he also cached (although only occasionally). The surprising part was that we have crossed paths at work several times over the last five years, but it somehow never came up before!

[CaleD]

Not really an unknown cacher, but when I checked my email one morning I had a message from someone saying that they thought they knew me. Turns out we went to school together, but as far as I know, they haven't really gotten into the sport too much as of yet.

[crew 153]

A new cacher posted a message on the forum asking for someone to help him set up some new caches. I replied and we exchanged phone numbers. I soon realised that his work number was similar to mine.

He was working for the same company and worked on the ground floor while I was on the 1st. We had not met before that.

[McPhan]

ZsaZsa7 and I had worked on the same floor for 6-8 months without knowing. Then He went on a trip with another colleague that I had mentioned that I did caching to.

From then on I have dragged him out to remote caches and he has dragged me around them.

Then a few months ago we found out the another staff member on the same floor had put out 3-4 caches around Captains Flat. They're not a cacher but were helping out a friend.

[Team Wibble]

Happens all the time to us, oddly. Though usually through orienteering.

We first found out who Zytheran was while standing around a campfire after a night orienteering event and discussing a nearby cache. MiniZyth was standing next to us and looked up (okay, he was a lot shorter then!) and said "Are you guys geocachers??"
We had no idea they were cachers until then.

Similarly, on our way to an orienteering event we stopped for a loo break in Burra and another orienteering family that we knew pulled up, stepped out of the car and said "Team Wibble!!" - it was Irac- and onewiseowl, and up to that point we had no idea they were cachers either.

Similar thing happened with another cacher at the finish tent of yet another orienteering event.

Of course, this actually started happening within four weeks of us finding our first cache. Miss Wibble started a new job, was introduced to her new line manager who stated "I saw that you have orienteering listed as an interest on your resume. Have you ever heard of geocaching?"
And it turned out her line manager was TeamAstro.

[Geof]

I worked for the same company as another cacher prior to becomeing one myself. He moved on.

Neather knew either was a cacher until I picked his nickname and sent him an email asking if the following key words ment anything to him. They did!

Turns out it was him. At first he thought I was another work associate. We still bump into one another from time to time. Still both cachers.

[Richary]

Happened to me back in Adelaide a while ago. JackHenry (from memory I think it was) was an occasional customer of the company I worked for. The sales girl somehow mentioned it as one of my hobbies so we got to meet.

In reverse I was lookinig for some soil to fill a hole at home on freecycle. Someone responded and it turned out to be Unicycle.

[CarrollEyre]

At a recent scout training day I built a shelter shed with members a nearby caching family, not knowing who they were. As we basked in the glory of our structure not falling down we discovered that both of us geocache to find interesting places. While we were chatting another scout leader butted in that he has found several caches in the course of his work , taken interest and returned the caches to their hide after his work was completed. He has perused the website many times making him a "geomuggle".

[If]

I know that someone else at my workplace has recently started geocaching
I have read their cache logs and the cacher name sort'a gave it away
I cannot find the cache logs again though......
So I have met an 'unknown cacher whilst NOT caching'
But I'll be damned if I can work out who it is

Then again weirder things have happened.
I spent 2 months travelling around central America before picking up a car in Los Angeles and randomly driving around the SW USofA for a month. In some obscure little town somewhere near Bryce Canyon I was strolling down the street when someone I work with every day, running the exact same console called out my name from a nearby restaurant
go figure!!

[CarrollEyre]

Forthferalz has found several of my caches and I was naturally curious about who they were. Investigations through logs and photos gave me a reasonable idea of who she was and that she had recently been OS.
Fast forward through to tonight where I was hunting for some dinner in the local supermarket with my daughter after a late scouting event and I saw another customer who looked vaguely familiar. For some reason I said to my daughter that the person looks like someone I know called ForthFeralz from Geocaching. And hey presto, like finding the Dicey Puzzle cache without solving the clues, the fellow shopper was ForthFeralz. Of course we chatted about caching......and I was late returning to the car.