A couple nights ago, a street in the downtown was closed down because of a bomb scare. All I could think when I heard about it on the news was, oh no, someone's found a letterbox or geocache. But not, it was a smudging pot. (And who knows why that was even down there.)
The fact of the matter is that letterboxes and geocaches can and do get mistaken for bombs. To me, whether or not that's a rational reaction or not depends on the manner in which the box is planted.
For example: black sprayed tube attached with a wire somewhere near important infrastructure or buildings? Kinda irresponsible. You're just asking for someone to misinterpret that. But that same box out in the middle of say High Park? Probably fine. Better if it's clearly labelled on the outside...
If any of my boxes were ever to case a bomb scare, I would be mortified. Mortified. It would be awful. I'd feel terrible. I'd be rethinking each and every one of my boxes. I never ever, ever want this to happen.
The box I planted is in a round Lock & Lock in a very urban area. I decided to leave the box uncamoflaged with clear information showing through about what the box is and why it has been planted there. You can't control how people will react to finding a letterbox, but you can take steps to ensure that a reasonable person will not mistake your box for a bomb. (Cuz let's face it, there are some people that will see a pinecone and scream bomb.)
However, when trying to do your best to prevent the bomb-scare scenario and given the dearth of planting spots, it makes urban letterboxing difficult.
It's times like this that I'm beginning to think that magnets are the only way to go...
I'm out today letterboxing... Hope you're all getting ready for a weekend of the same!
Happy trails!
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