have you ever picked up a hitchhiker?
 

this weekend was fun. wife and mother in law dragged me to some factory outlet mall. oh lord..i did buy myself new jeans and a wallet. other than the 3 minutes i spent buying myself exactly what i wanted..i had alot of time to kill.

i sat on a bench..shortly afterwards, i hear a young ladies voice.."excuse me, do either of you have jumper cables?" i look up, and see some girl,,short skirt, nice tan..cute as a button. quick mental inventory..damn we are in MIL's car..no jumper cables. damn damn damn.

she asked me to take a look at her car. my spidey senses..tingle. i imagine being jumped in some alley for my new jeans and wallet..but WTF..i go. it was some filthy, newish subaru STI looking thing..well, a 2008. her terminals were spotless and tight..we can push start it!!!!! nope, she got an auto..what? (not STI i assume)

anyways, she asked me for a ride to some place..as a smart person, i tell her no. first she shouldnt be getting in MY car, no? my wife conveniently shows up, gives me the, "no, we cant keep her look"..and gives her the AAA 1800 number. i tell her to call the mall cops and leave.

all this got me thinking of hitchhikers. i have NEVER picked one up. maybe my paranoia, i dont know. you guys?

and yes, i considered taking her picture for you guys..but i didnt. no "roof girl" situation coming from me. :D

I picked up a guy once that had robbed a local motel and was hitch hiking away. I thought he was some garage mechanic heading into work. I'm at a stop light with the local news on the radio. The radio is talking about the robbery and describing the guy. Suddenly dawns on me that he is in my Bronco with me. I look at him, he looks at me and we both dive out of the vehicle. He takes off running, I get back in and go tell the police.

I have never picked one up, but I have hitchiked thousands of miles without incident in Europe. Some amazing stories there. I have gotten rides home from bars by complete strangers in the US before too.

I usually pick up hitchhikers if they look like European tourists. Not if they look like local hoods wanting to save their bus money.

If I see a guy standing next to a car with the hood up and a gas can in his hand, I'd give him a ride to the next exit. If he rides in back on my pick-up.

Me too.

Plus when I was a teen I hitched from Dan Diego to NYC. And another long trip from Cape Town to Harare in Zimbabawe.

My wife & I picked up a lot of hh's in Cuba where it is prevalent. Grandmothers with grand kids, teenage girls etc. Perfectly safe. In the US or Canada? No. Not since the 70s when it was common. I used to hh all the time as a teen. Often at night. Often high. ;) I had a girlfriend who lived 200 miles away.

And yes, I have stories. One night, I was propositioned by an ex-con who just got out of the pen. Middle of nowhere & he thankfully took my 'no' kindly.

Ian

I used to live in downtown Detroit. Hookers that worked in the Cass Corridor, would get driven over into our abandon area of Corktown (just north of the old Tigers stadium). Their business finished, the 'gentlemen' would give the 'ladies' the boot.

Once in a while you would come out, and a working girl would be walking by, asking for a ride "back to Cass". Actually, they would first ask if you wanted to go on a 'date'. When I said no, they would ask for a cigarette, and I would give them one. Our friendship established, they would ask for a ride back to work. During the winter months my house mates and I would give them rides. I felt bad letting some gal walk in high heels and tights a mile in the snow. The women appreciated it.

Was it dumb? Yes, for many reasons. I was damn naive. But nothing bad ever came of it, and its a mistake that I am glad I made.

I gave a woman a ride to pick up a welfare check. She was walking and had 5 kids in tow. It was a hot summer day. She showed me the address, and it was couple miles away. I had a Ranger xtra cab, and all the kids piled in back, baby with momma up front. It only took a few minutes, and this lady thanked me a ton.

Sheeesh......

Now you've got me thinking about bigger issues....and I've got work to do dammit! :D

When I was a little boy, about 10 or 11 I hitched 60 miles to Wellington where I visualised living in alley ways like some sort of Charles Dickens character. When I got there I didn't like the look of it too much so I hitched home expecting family and police out looking for a missing person, but my family didn't even notice I was gone.

Big laughs!

I wouldn't these days in the US but possibly would if in Europe.

The last time I picked one up was sometime in the 1980's. It was one of those stormy all hell rainy cold days and was in my 911. With the wipers on high and poor visibility, I vaguely could see a female dressed in dark pants, leather coat, with satchel or something and hitching. I pulled over and as she hopped in, I didn't even really get a good look at her face but she was soaked. Simply asked where she was heading and being towards my destination, agreed best to drop her off at large shopping mall. Anyhow, she asked if I'd like a bj for $5! :rolleyes: I honestly thought about it for a moment but when I finally had a chance to look at her face, I nearly gagged from her nasty, pimpled face and whatever else was going on with her.... yikes. I just dropped her off, oddly felt bad and tossed her a five.

Other times- Quite often hotties picked up while on a motorcycle. Once had two cuties on my bike! Illegal yes but.... c'mon now.

Yes, but only to snowboarders/skiers/mountain bikers doing back country runs on the passes here. Or if I see someone walking their bike with flat ect.

Don't think I would do that with the kids or wife in tow though.

Back in 1973 I picked up two ladies walking away from a vehicle near Weogufka, Alabama once.

Really.

I was in my new 1973 Super Bug at the time. That is the only reason I remember the when. I drove them about two miles to a gas station. They were terrified and did not say much.

I vaguely remember another odd night of hitchhiking - with a buddy. We were going on a 5 day adventure. It was but that’s a whole long story. The first night out, we were riding with a 40 year old guy on a rural farm road after midnight. There was an audible bang outside somewhere. The driver pulled over & checked the tires. Nothing. Then he came to the wild conclusion that somebody had shot at us. We scrambled into the car & he stomped on the gas for a few miles babbling the whole time about being shot at. My buddy & I weren’t so sure but something had happened. He dropped us five miles later on a good highway & sped off still muttering.

Ian

I'm sure they were.

Only if they are wearing waders and it's down along the river.

or they are wearing bikinis and have inter-tubes with them :D

Was N of Sonora last week.

Got dragged out to a bar with some co workers.

3 of us decided to split early but could not find a cab.

Walk to 7-11 and there is a ratty El Camino puling up.

As I go into 7-11 one of the guys asks the woman if she'd drive us home.

She said sure so we all pilled in.

Never given a ride, but I did hitchhike back from central MO after my buddy got a DUI. It was a after a Widespread Panic concert and we should have been with a hotel room of intoxicated girls. Oh what might have been.........:p

Picked a girl up in TN. once (late 70's) on my way to CA. She was headed to Utah. I got her there by way of CA. A fun trip was had by all. I think about her once in a while.

Not for a couple decades. I used to. Lots of stories being picked up and picking up.
On the lighter side, I was working out of town and my wife made me some sandwiches for monday and possibly tuesday. Tuna. Well one was sitting in the back seat of my 73 Super Beetle and I picked up a hippie on his way to Santa Cruz.
He was hungry and I told him I had an old Sandwich (this is probably thursday night) in the back seat. He grabbed it and ate it.
Four day old tuna is not a good thing to eat after sitting in my car all day and night for a few days.
Another time, I was 16 and hitching a ride. I was "running away from home."
A queer about 45 picked me up. I didn't know what his motive was until he reached over and squeezed my crotch.
When we came to a red light, I bolted and hitched a ride home and thanked my parents for being stern and I screwed up and that I loved them.

Hitchhiked all over when I was a youngster met a bunch of great folks so used to pick up almost anyone. Fast forward to a few years ago saw a fella with his thumb out picked him up and he was a phsycho with incredible BO since then naah