Elements That Leave You Shaking Your HeadThe treasure hunting (and I'll include gold mining here) community is, by and large, composed of some of the most honest, decent, helpful, and down-to-earth people you'll ever come across. For example, my contact with readers of "Treasure Trove Dreams" and my mining blog "Bedrock Dreams" via e-mail, comments, and phone calls has been about 98.5% positive in total.
But just as it is in life as a whole, you do run across those elements that leave you shaking your head slowly from side-to-side in either disgust or wonderment. The folks that trigger this sort of reaction in me (and probably in you as well) invariably fall into a range of less-than-desirable types that can include everything from BS artists and hustlers to my favorites, treasure-hunting whack jobs, true believers, and assorted oddities and oddballs.
Implied Threats are Not Common...
Let me give you an example. Just yesterday I received an anonymous comment on a post about Jesse James and Knights of the golden Circle (KGC) troves from an obvious whack job that went something like this: "You're playing with fire here. Don't think you aren't being watched either."
Implied threats like this one are not all that common, but I will tell you that it's not the first one I've ever received. Interestingly enough though, most of the more threatening comments I've received deal with large or very well-known treasure legends or troves, including the lost Dutchman Mine, Oak Island, and the ever popular James Boys and KGC.
Potentially Violent People Out There
Typically I will publish each and every comment sent me including those that disagree with my assumptions or conclusions. The only time I won't publish a comment is if it contains nothing but 4-letter epithets or is overtly threatening. I refuse to give air time to whack jobs and fruitcakes...sorry. (Interestingly enough, the few threats I've received via "Treasure Trove Dreams" are always in comment form...these cowards never use an e-mail that can be traced. Surprise, surprise.)
That said, I feel it's important for all of you to realize that treasure hunting is not all about peace, love, and cashing in your "goodies." There are unstable, angry, paranoid, and even potentially violent people out there who think a given trove or treasure is theirs and theirs alone and they will stop at nothing to "protect" it. Hell bells folks, people have actually been killed or turned up missing in these sorts of contexts, the Lost Dutchman Mine legend being a classic example of how this happens.
What Has All This to Do With You?
Another sort of mini-crazy out there is the secretive, paranoid type that implies he or she is tied in with some huge conspiracy or network (a.k.a., secret society). I'd put the nut that sent me the comment yesterday in this category and it's easy to see why. By the way, I've gotten more than half a dozen of these paranoid/conspiracy, implied threat type comments since I started writing and publishing "Treasure Trove Dreams."
You're probably asking what all this has to do with you? The great majority of you out there are highly intelligent people who can figure that out on your own. For those of you who have a harder time deciphering things, the answer is simple my friends:
"Crazy is as crazy does..."
Peace out and good hunting to you.
(c) J.R. 2010
Questions? E-mail me at jr872vt90@yahoo.com
http://treasuretrovegold.blogspot.com/2011/01/crazy-is-as-crazy-does.html
