[N/A] Hitchhiking

RyanB

RyanB

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Saw a guy on my way home this afternoon out trying to thumb a ride. Not something you see all that often anymore. As I got closer, I got a better look at him and he didn’t appear to be anyone I’d be interested in giving a ride to.

Seems like hitchhiking is mostly a thing of the past. I just don’t trust people enough to pick up a stranger.

Anybody ever picked up a hitchhiker or better yet been the hitchhiker?
 
I still pick them up from time to time but I am almost always armed. The last one was a guy that was pretty drunk and I was just glad he wasn't driving the guy before that looked rough around the edges but his car broke down the day before it was pouring rain and the the guy was walking about 5 miles to work.

When I was a kid we hitched all over. My mom dropped me off when I was 17 at the highway to hitch down an hour an a half away to visit my brother at college. A different time.
 
I've hitched hike in my younger years. Once a car full of guys pulled over to give me a ride when I was in HS. Had good sense to wave them off, wasn't about to get in that car. Probably the last time I was around 20, and me and a buddy were in Jacksonville over a weekend. Slept on the beach, and a guy came out to check us out, I guess we were close to his home, right on the beach. Think he must have been a Naval officer as he and his wife fed us breakfast when he found we were Air Force guys. Either his wife or another woman gave us a ride to I10, and then these two chicks picked us up. They were headed home to Calhoun Ga and going right up I75, and took us right to the barracks at Moody AFB. I won't go into the activities with me and one of the girls in the backseat along the way, but hey, this was the late 60s man, free love and all that ya know.

I can't recall the last time I saw someone actually hitch hiking. Too crazy today to pick up a hitch hiker.

 
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I'm the youngest of 10. I'm 58, my eldest sibling just turned 80.

I only hitchhiked one or twice, out of necessity, as a kid when a car broke down. But had a couple of older brothers "stretch their legs" shortly after high school.

One brother hitchhiked from Missouri to Woodstock the summer of '69.

And another hitchhiked to see four siblings the summer of '71. STL to DAL to LAS to LA back to KC and then back home.

Bigger balls than I have! But it was a different time.
 
Just thought of a third in recent years. Guy late 70s maybe 80 walking home carrying a giant bulk pack of toilet paper(that is scary) he was walking home lived a good 6 or 7 miles from the store. Of course I live in the middle of nowhere.
 
Picked up a 10 year old boy hitchhiking in my neighborhood once. That’s it. Never hitchhiked myself.
 
As a youg’un I was out in the woods grouse hunting, and got stuck. It wasn’t uncommon to get stuck or have a mechanical problem. My 1st vehicles cost a few $100’s. I didn’t want to leave my shotgun in the truck, so I cased it & walked to the hi-way. Even though I had my cased gun, I got picked up soon hitch-hiking.

Another time my car died at 2:00 A.M., after dropping her off. I barely made it to the side of the road when a guy stopped to offer a ride. This was in a lonely stretch of hi-way. Both these events(and others) happened in the rural U.P. of MI, later 70’s.

I’ll stop to help & even pick up a hitchhiker now at times, if I’m in the mood. Yes, I take precautions, and all the factors come into play. It seems ‘stranger danger’ is the rage now, stopping to help you may be considered a weirdo. I realize most vehicles have multiple cellphones, but tow trucks cost $$$.
 
Ryanb said:
Saw a guy on my way home this afternoon out trying to thumb a ride. Not something you see all that often anymore. As I got closer, I got a better look at him and he didn’t appear to be anyone I’d be interested in giving a ride to.

Seems like hitchhiking is mostly a thing of the past. I just don’t trust people enough to pick up a stranger.

Anybody ever picked up a hitchhiker or better yet been the hitchhiker?
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Yes and yes. You don’t see it much anymore. It was how I got around town when I was younger in my pre and early teen years. I’ve thumbed the west coast between Portland and San Francisco a couple times. Got one almost the minute I stuck my sign out once. Guy was going to LA and diverted through SF and took the Coast route the rest of the way just to drop me off.
 
The only time I can remember was when I was a 16 or 17 year old hippie and I was visiting my sister and BIL in VA where he was stationed in the Navy. I hitchhiked to the beach and then hitchhiked back. First guy was a freak like me. Second guy was a Christian who witnessed to me. I believe it was pouring raining going back too.

I can't remember whether I've ever picked anybody up or not.
 
I’ve given several rides in my life but haven’t done much hitchhiking myself. It’s been quite a few years though since I’ve picked anyone up.
 
I recall once on high school busting curfew at my GFs house. I was jogging home and a car approached. Stuck out my thumb and the car stopped. "You in any trouble?" the cop said. "Not till I get home." "Hop in, I'll give you a ride." He killed the headlights a couple houses away from my front door and bade me good night.

True story. Madison Wis in 1976.
 
Got out of the army in Dec '69 at Fort Lewis, WA just home from Vietnam. Hitched rides from there to Kansas City. Took 2 weeks, stopped off at a ranch in Montana to help a rancher for a few days. Two years later went into the air force.
 
My friends and I hitched some when we were teens. (I would kill my daughters if I caught them doing it.) But it was different times back then. It was almost expected. The only incident that ever happened was one man picked up my girlfriend and I, and we both sat in the back seat. He dropped us where we wanted to go and as we walked away from the car my friend glanced back through the window and saw that he had taken it out. It. Out. She giggled in mock horror as she told me and we laughed about it. I guess nowadays we would have to find a safe space and be given counseling. But back then we didn't give it a second thought.
 
Casual carpool is somewhat like hitchhiking. I know someone in her 70s that uses it.

As far as regular hitchhiking goes, I've done both in the distant past.
 
So I picked up a hitchhiker the other day . . . After he got in he turned to me and jokingly said, "Thanks! By the way, how do you know I'm not a serial killer or something?" I replied, "C'mon, the chances of two serial killers being in the same car are astronomical!"


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A lot of natives hitch hike around here, usually trying to get back to the reservation. One thing they do is hold out a dollar bill instead of sticking out their thumb. Not unusual at all to see 2, 3, 4, up to 6 people sitting in the back of a truck going down the highway.

Lots of illegals travel through the area, but the try to use the train. We will see a stopped train and several police and medical people walking up and down the side of the tracks. My wife once asked me what they were looking for. The other half of the body.

When I was a kid anyone in uniform didn't have to stick out a thumb, people just pulled over and told them to get in. Then as a teenager I was walking home from school in uniform and a green VW with flowers painted on it pulled up. A girl leaned out and yelled "Baby killer", then threw a can at me as the car pulled away...:lol:

No, I don't pick up hitch hikers.
 
I've stopped on the side of the road for cars a few times, helped them move from the ramp to the shoulder where it was safer or up to the gas station.

As for picking up people, my first was a guy in CO on the way home from work who was actively cupping snow into his radiator cap. Drove a mile, thought about it, and decided to go back for the poor guy. He was super thankful, an IT guy also from CA, and told the cashier at Walgreens we stopped for water at that he was in the presence of a "good samaritan". It was about to get really cold and I didn't want him waiting for the tow so I offered to drive him straight home, he took the offer and repaid me for the gas.

I thought I'd be equally nice when I got to my current apartment complex in TX, saw a young lady looking at cars pulling in and asked her if everything was okay. She said that she needed a ride to the Walmart around the corner (a mile or so) and it was about to storm. I offered her a ride and she accepted. As we pulled out of the apartments she pulled a knife and held it in her hand with blade out resting on her thigh "in case I tried anything". On the way back she told me that she'd been shot in the neck once and lived and that I should also drop her off short of her apartment so her boyfriend didn't see me because he'd be ****ed and try to kill me.

I don't pick people up anymore.
 
Haven’t seen any in a long time that would look like someone I would want to pickup.

Definitely picked up lots of hitchhikers when I was a kid. I remember a family vacation where we had a hitchhiker in the center seat of the van for a solid eight hours.

Hitchhiked once when I was about ten years old and my dirtbike broke down about 10 miles from home. Survived.
 
Kinda location and situation specific... Years ago, I lived in a small, rural town and was walking to the auto parts store carrying the ready-for-burial brake caliper in my hand. Guy with his family in the car stops for me, without me waving, gives me a ride right to the store. Much appreciated, sir!

More recently, my (now ex-) wife was driving home from early-closed work in a serious Colorado blizzard. Big wind, driving, blowing snow, and generally not a day to be outdoors. She saw a woman walking down the street carrying groceries. My then-wife pulled over and yelled at her "GET IN THE CAR!" and the woman did. Good on her, even if I was worried since I was waiting for her at home.

Last month, I was heading out of my neighborhood and a woman I've never seen before was walking along the sidewalk. It was about 102F and she was about 11 months pregnant - seriously about to blow! I pulled over, thought a minute, backed up and said "May I offer you a ride?" She accepted, and I drove her two blocks to the auto repair place. I can't imagine she was going to walk it - she was due to give birth two days later!
 
Yes, there can be elevated drama with those along the road. It’s often not just a simple ride. One of the most recent was a guy stopped in the road about a mile from my house. It was right at an intersection, kinda in the way of traffic. He said he was out of gas. I said give less than 10 minutes, went home then poured 2-3 gallons in his car.

He was very appreciative, though it looked like it was of limited help with the rest of his life.
 
Ken Ibold said:
I recall once on high school busting curfew at my GFs house. I was jogging home and a car approached. Stuck out my thumb and the car stopped. "You in any trouble?" the cop said. "Not till I get home." "Hop in, I'll give you a ride." He killed the headlights a couple houses away from my front door and bade me good night.

True story. Madison Wis in 1976.
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Community parenting. A concept that definitely no longer exists, with very rare exception, sadly.

Today the cop would've likely taken you down to the station if it's illegal to hitchhike in that town. Priority #1 in most small towns: Generate the revenue.
 
timwinters said:
Community parenting. A concept that definitely no longer exists, with very rare exception, sadly.

Today the cop would've likely taken you down to the station if it's illegal to hitchhike in that town. Priority #1 in most small towns: Generate the revenue.
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When I was in my teenage years, small town, 2000ish year, 3000 people. The only time the cops were going to take you home instead of the station was if you were the cops kid (my mom always dated cops). There was a squad car dropping off one of us kids on a nearly nightly basis.
 
last time I flew into FQD I had to park all the way at the north ramp but needed to go as far south as you could. I saw a line guy riding in a golf cart so I put my thumb out and hitchhiked a ride from him. also a coupl'a times when I was younger, but never picked up anyone hitchhiking.
 
I haven't seen one in an age. Last hitchhiker I picked up was on the motorcycle. Lent him my spare helmet. Last time I hitched was to get a ride from Lake Attitlan to the bus station in Guatemala city, so I could get to the airport. I miss being that good in Spanish.
 
steingar said:
I haven't seen one in an age. Last hitchhiker I picked up was on the motorcycle. Lent him my spare helmet. Last time I hitched was to get a ride from Lake Attitlan to the bus station in Guatemala city, so I could get to the airport. I miss being that good in Spanish.
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Yes, I don't remember many during the last 20 years or so that I lived in Michigan. Vermont is so different... there is crime here, mostly petty stuff, the occasional car broken into, but violent crime is practically unheard of (there was one arrest this year in my community of a suspected sexual predator and one for assault). People try to thumb rides regularly, including women (rarely) - that surprised me to see as it is something I would never do, even here in VT... well I guess, if I was desperate enough and stranded.

I've never picked up a hitcher either. Offered rides to people in need that I met on foot, but never someone thumbing a ride by the roadside. If I recognized them, sure of course... but otherwise you never know if they are local folk.
 
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