I am so . . . .

I received an email from a friend last night that told me about a confusing letterboxing story! A boxer decided to plant a HH a while ago and once it was released, never heard from it again - until just recently. Seems this HH ended up on the West Coast and this planter was thrilled to hear about their HH. After thanking this left coast finder for updating the planter via email, a return email came back from the finder. The finder stated that this "HH" was permanently planted as a box out west! Someone had taken it upon themselves to permanently place this HH as a box!

Now I am a very tolerant person but this type of story has me wondering what the heck is going on here? Don't boxers read the FAQ's before they delve into this game? Haven't there been plenty of posts on all of the talk lists about HH etiquette?

These types of occurrences make me feel both sad and old! Sad in the fact that this game does have rules - don't let anyone tell you differently. Two basic rules were broken here: (1) Don't mess with another's box and (2) keep HH's moving so they're free to roam! How simple is that?

I feel old because many eons ago in the letterboxing world - only 4 years from our perspective - letterboxers were more aware and respectful of these little treasures and the game as a whole. What happened to those days? Will they ever return? And how, as responsible boxers, do we get the word out? Posting ad nauseum on the talk lists don't seem to work - since not every letterboxer is aware of them.

Do we just chalk it up to letterboxing today? No - I believe we try to educate the public. From where? Gatherings and from the LBNA website. These are two arenas where we have a captive audience, with the LBNA site being the most used by anyone even thinking about becoming a boxer.

It's time to go back to basics, people. If we don't - this confusion, mayhem and downright disregard for our boxes will continue and I fear get even worse. Send me your response, please, so I realize that I'm not the only confused one!