Quote:
Originally Posted by TimT
(Post 11226075)
Same , Long Island late '70's...
Some people really didn't like a bunch of tweens hanging from their bumper..
One guy stopped, jumped out of the car and beat the snot out of my friend... and drove off..
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It was very popular in Minneapolis in the '60s and early '70s, we just called it hopping cars. The term was generic and also applied to hopping on the rear bumper of a delivery truck in the summer to get a free ride somewhere. It was not uncommon to see a 14 year old hoodlum standing on the rear bumper of a speeding UPS or bread truck, driver unaware that he had a parasite attached. Extra style points if the young hoodlum was smoking a cigarette and had a carefree expression, which they usually did, (both).
Grabbing rear bumpers on an icy street w a stop sign, (so the car had to stop for boarding), was extremely popular and extra points were allotted if the driver was a grown man under the age of about 60, it really put some sport in it if the driver could potentially stop, get out and chase you down for a beating. There were some epic foot chases on ice with a cheering section of other knuckleheads who were waiting for their turn to board watching.
If it was any woman driving, sometimes 3 or 4 kids, (sometimes huge teenagers), might all grab some bumper and the car would barely move w all the extra weight being towed. Depended on the coefficient of friction, ice or just packed snow, etc. I can remember grabbing a rear door handle on a 4-door when there was no bumper space left and getting an awesome stand-up ride at speed. If some driver had been pissed-off or flustered enough, they could have put me into a parked car pretty hard. Sometimes a young dude behind the wheel or just someone angry enough could mash the throttle and take you on a wild ride that was like water skiing behind a drag boat.
It was so prevalent in MN. that of course every winter some kid got killed doing it. Sometimes more than one. A kid got killed a couple blocks from my house when he unhooked from the car and slid into a car coming the other direction. Parents gave stern lectures that went something like this:
"You and your friends don't ever do that, do you son? That's the stupidest and most dangerous thing I've ever heard in my life!"
"No, mom, of course not," (with fingers crossed behind your back). All hopping/skitching/hookeybobbin' would cease for about a 3 day period of mourning or until the dead kid was in the ground and then it was back on like donkey kong. I understand how they got so many fighter pilots in WW2, teenaged boys have a risk tolerance that is negative some number. IOW, the more dangerous something sounds, the better and more fun it sounds to them. Cliff diving w big rocks a couple feet away from landing spot? Hell yes! Riding motorcycles 100 mph on the highway drunk at 2am? Sign me up! Banging a cheerleader whose boyfriend is Mongo? I've done it. :)
Ahhh, the good old days. Sigh...