[pct-l] yet another PCTS trail emblem on ebay

[mgeis at yahoo.com (Matt Geis)]

Once again, it seems that someone has put one of the
old-style PCTS trail markers up on eBay.  I considered
writing a nasty email, but rethought it when I saw the
following sentence in the description of the item.

"I found this old P. C. T. trail marker marker at a
garage sale about 25 yrs ago. As an avid backpacker I
don't wish anyone to think I tore it off a tree !"

In the hope that backpackers might be innately good
creatures, I sent the following email to the seller. 
I'll let you know what happens.

Oh -- I'm sure that one of these is enough.  I'm not
posting this to the list in order to encourage spam. 
If the seller doesn't respond to this email, it's not
likely that a deluge of similar (or worse, more firm)
emails would persuade him/her.  I'm putting this up to
share an idea for how this type of activity might be
discouraged in the future, should someone else on the
list see a similar sale and want to give it a shot.

Iron Chef

**************
Hi,
I read your item description and understand that as an
avid backpacker you wouldn't want anyone to think you
tore it off a tree, but by selling this item, you will
encourage others to tear the remaining vintage PCT
System trail markers off trees.

Maybe I can suggest an alternative.  Would you
consider withdrawing this item, or better still,
pulling it off ebay, and donating it to the PCT
Association to auction off at their annual meeting
(the last meeting saw one of these raise a good amount
of money, as it was basically a charity auction).  You
would unfortunately lose a few bucks worth of pocket
money, but you would end up contributing far more to
the ongoing maintenance and development of a truly
historic trail.

If you would like contact info for the PCTA, I'd be
happy to provide it.  You can reach me at
mgeis@yahoo.com.

Thanks, and I hope this didn't come off as a sermon.

Matt


		
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail Address AutoComplete - You start. We finish.
http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail