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I hate to rush the season, although 3 1/2 weeks ahead of Easter can hardly be considered premature in corporate America these days. I just wanted to touch base to alert you to a couple of marked changes in the hiding business. One is called "geocaching," and it's taking the U.S. by storm. Based on what I've been reading about this sport, more than a quarter-million folks are playing it. Works like this: Someone hides a "cache" and posts its global positioning coordinates on the Web site geocaching.com. The cache can be large (like a plastic tub) or tiny (a pill bottle or film canister). Then players use their GPS gizmos to find the treasure. Think of it as a year-round Easter egg hunt for adults. Ah, but there's a major difference between this gig and yours. Instead of tucking the treasure into their Easter baskets and running off to find more, the finders log the time and date of their discovery, remove a trinket from inside and leave something in return. That way, the cache remains and the hunt continues for weeks, months, even years. I've got a friend here in Knoxville, Kent Van Cleave, who is a graduate of Auburn University. One of the caches he has hidden is on the University of Tennessee campus. It's called "Auburn in Yo House," and it's full of War Eagle memorabilia. As Kent explained it to me, "The task for Big Arnj faithful cachers is to take something Auburn out and replace it with something UT. When all the Auburn stuff is gone, I'll take the UT stuff to Auburn and place a cache there." The reason I'm telling you about geocaching, Mr. Bunny, is because it could negatively impact your profession over time. If this "no-take" notion sweeps the ranks of egg hunters the way catch-and-release has infiltrated bass fishing, your role during the Easter season could eventually be eliminated altogether. Given universal addiction to chocolate, I don't expect this to happen anytime soon. But what do I know about dietary trends and fads? I'm still amazed people will pay $1.89 for a bottle of drinking water drawn from the tap for less than a penny. The other heads-up I wanted to pass along is more important. Hopefully, it'll keep you from landing in the pokey. Since 9/11, folks have grown rather jittery about things hidden in their midst. Last month in Boston, what started as a TV marketing ploy mushroomed into a full-blown terrorism alert. Seems a couple of guys working for a cartoon cable network planted several blinking electronic devices as a publicity stunt. Somebody thought these things might be bombs, the cops were alerted, and before you could say "just kidding," the town was dang-nigh locked down. The men were arrested, and the sponsoring companies wound up paying a $2 million fine. Between the competition and security risks, Mr. Bunny, the Easter egg trade ain't what it used to be. All things considered, you might want to start thinking about a new line of work. I hear they're hiring at Wal-Mart. Good luck. Sam Venable's column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. He may be reached at 865-342-6272 or
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. His latest book, "You Gotta Laugh to Keep from Cryin': A Baby Boomer Contemplates Life Beyond Fifty," is available at most bookstores and online from the News Sentinel. Reproduced from: Venable: Big changes on the hiding sceneSAM VENABLE,
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Tuesday, March 13, 2007 http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2007/mar/13/venable-big-changes-on-the-hiding-scene/ |
