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

I have, once. It was about 1998 and I was driving from Minneapolis to Duluth. It was cold as a witches tit, and I saw a semi driver with his flashers on get out of his truck and start walking. I pulled over and took him to the next exit where there was a service station. Guy was really nice and appreciated it.

I figured if I ever broke down in the middle of the winter up there, someone would pick me up too. Of course thats the midwest, and people are a lot nicer there it seems...

Bill

I had two cops pick me up hitchhiking. Was HH'ing to U. of Pittsburgh from NE PA (approx. 300 miles) and got dropped off on the interstate and walked down the off ramp into the city. Within 15 seconds these 2 cops pull up next to me and ask " Are you stupid or have a death wish?" Apparently I was not in a good section of the city. They told me to get the f.ck in the car and proceeded to bust my chops about having a death wish and being too stupid to have children,etc. They finally asked me where i was heading and they dropped me off in front of my brother's dorm. 1980

In the '70's I picked up hh's often. Everyone had a story.
The only time I hitched was in the mid '80's after arriving in Arkansas. I left my (then) wife and kid and 1/2 with our van while I headed to Iowa where my truck and trailer were stored. I remember it took a lot of rides, slept in a ditch in MO, then grabbed a box car that ended up in Des Moines. Another ride got me to a buddy, who took me home the next day.
Jim

I have, and they'll never be able to prove it

I picked up a guy the next thing I i know I wake up in a hospital with internal injuries and a broken jaw. I guess, which I found our months later after seeing him in a bar, I picked this guy up and gave him a ride home. On the way back down the road on the way to work, (3rd shift), I wrapped the Pinto around a telephone pole. Posted a pic of it on Shaun's accident thread. I guess I fell asleep at the wheel :(

Don't recall if I've ever had the opportunity to pick up any hitch hikers, but back in the day...early 80's...young Marine...stationed in SoCal. Buddies and I used to leave the base Saturday mornings and hitch hike up to Huntington Beach, or even Long Beach. Then we'd cruise the beaches all the way down the coast, snagging rides from anyone that heading south that we could. Met some cool people, had some great times, did some things you'll never get me to admit on the innerwebs! :D

...and then there was the time I was standing on a corner, in Winslow, Arizona. It's a well known tale...perhaps you've heard it... :cool:

Randy

Charlie Daniels and Mylon LeFevre picked me up outside the Fox Theater in Atlanta one night and took me all the way home to Decatur. Long story, but I thought it was mighty nice of them.

-e.

I was hitchiking to eastern Germany right after the fall of the Wall when I was about 19. An elderly couple picked me up and, upon learning I was an Ami, the old man said he had been a POW near Erie, PA during the war. He went on and on about how he had never lived so well in his life up to then. They dropped me off in Magdeburg and I had a long walk to the train station to get to Halle. An old lady on a bike came up to me and said I looked like I wasn't from those parts and asked if I needed directions. Hearing my then accent (I have none now), she asked if I was an Ami. Then she said her husband had been a POW in Chesapeake, VA during the war and always raved about how much he had to eat and what a great time it was. I have had countless experiences like this in those parts.

Once had to move a sailboat and a car a 1000 miles up the east coast

sail a day or two hitch back to get the car repeat ect

the more rural the quicker the rides
big city people do not give rides

last hitch was across alligator ally after my volvo turbo blew a head gasket
I was towing a parts car on a dolly in 05
I got a ride back to miami by hitching next to the broken car

these days if she is cute she gets a ride

Ian you might get a kick out of this, in the early 80's I would hitchhike home/cottage from the Young St./ 401 on ramp, to almost Bancroft (Apsley, Chandos Lake 130+ miles)just about every Friday night after class. Always dressed neat as a pin with a sign I'd often get a ride right to the village, a few miles from our place and dad would come and pick me up. For about 3-4 weekends the same couple picked me up each time. I always got a ride back to Toronto on Sunday with a neighbour , not having a car in college was never a problem for me and saved me a poopload of cash.

Last time I picked up a hitchhiker was in the late 80's, it was an old school chum, he was already in the car when I realized he was now a mentally ill bum who smelled like poop. I kicked him out half way and I've never picked up a hitcher since.

I was trying to hitchike from Leverkusen to Munich once and a guy picked me up, said he was only going as far as Bonn, but that I'd have better luck there. The catch was that I had to help him deliver a bunch of hymnals to a church first. Man, that was a long day. I finally gave up near Frankfurt and hopped on an ICE train.

"Gas, Grass, or ass...nobody rides for free." Who here remembers that?

I can't remember picking a HH up but me and a couple of buddies got stuck in a Jeep and was walking back when a guy stopped and gave us a ride. Found out later he had just murdered a guy.:eek:

Best to pick em up, remain silent for a few minutes, then ask; "How far did you think you were going?" Or, "Hang on, I'm going to try something. I saw it in a cartoon once."

These usually keep things on an even footing. Helps if you are built like a wookie.

Never did and never would. This MF'r near Boston killed the innocent kid who was nice enough to pick him up:

Fugitive

In the 80s I hitchhiked from Deefield beach to Miami. Picked up by a few different freaks. A drunk pool guy, a queer business guy that i told if his hand touched my leg again I would kill him then two college kids who fed me beers and weed the rest of the ride. last time I did that.

Sure do. :)

Strange. Back in the day I hitched everywhere, and when I had wheels myself, I always picked up hitchhikers.

Today, not so much.

As Dylan puts it:

People are crazy and times are strange
I'm locked in tight, I'm out of range
I used to care, but things have changed.

when i was in school i use to study in the library till late and once in a while i would see girls hitching a ride back to the city, university of british columbia was in the stick back in the 80s, well there wasn't 24 hr bus service atleast. i don't do that now.

Hitch hiked all over the place in the '60s & '70s. I used to hitch to school at S.D. St. College. One year a guy would pick me up almost every morning. I'm still friends with the guy.

HH'd a lot as a teenager to get to the beach, work, school, etc. Never really picked up anyone, but teens on the way to school.

Hitched hiked right out of high school across the Sierra back in the mid 80s. In the foothills, it was a long wait, then this old man finally picked us up and took up up the mountain. Once we were in the hills, people picked us up all the time in their pick up trucks. We started in Mariposa and ended in Lee Vining, then Mammoth in more then 10 days.

Ever since then, I picked people up in the mountains only, but haven't done it in a very long time. Now that I have kids, I don't do that stuff any more. I did pick up a couple of Mexican guys sitting by their big old dump truck in our terrible summer heat a couple of years ago. I gave them a ride to the gas station (in the back of my pick up)and back to their truck. They were dirty and tired, so we got a big thank you from them. I felt pretty good about that one, because I know no one will do anything for them in LA.