I hitchhiked home from college a couple of times, mostly for the adventure. My mother would have been appalled if she knew I had done it. No robberies, psychos, or Dear Penthouse moments, unfortunately.
I’ve also picked up some. One time, long ago, it was two young women and a little girl, they said they were running from an abusive guy. Not sure if that was true, but they were very tired and all 3 slept the 30 miles I took them.
About 2 years ago, I picked up a guy near work on a whim, and he was going to a town just south of mine. I naturally took him about 80% of the way because I live off the beaten path and knew he’d have a tough time finding someone else going the same way. I let him out at a country restaurant and gave him $5 so he could get something while he waited for his friends to pick him up. That was a good deed done in my book.
I always pick up hitchhikers, or did until I became a Manhattanite and ceased to own a car. It’s retroactive karma — folks picked me up when I hitched.
I had some mildly creepy experiences as a hitchhiker. Never as a driver giving someone else a ride. The worst it ever got was having my ear talked off by a very chatty rider.
Worst that ever happened to me hitching was getting hit on by men, which doesn’t bother me unless they’re pushy or try to buy me. I had one old codger, in a beat up pick-up, wearing a beat up cowboy hat just reach out and put his hand on my leg without preamble or invitation. They’ve all taken no for an answer.
Once, after having been thrown off the freeway by a cop, I was stuck on a low volume onramp and a local came by and offered me a place for the night. It was early, so I declined, but a few hours later he came back and I took him up on it. Bed, shower, meal and back on the road at dawn. No drama, no weirdness. I did note that he had a cross on the wall in each of the rooms that I was in, but he never said a word about religion.
Contrast that with the guy who picked me up when I’d only been out of the military a year or so and had a bag with some kind of insignia on it. He chatted me up about my service and then explained his long range plan of college, then the seminary, and then to be a chaplin on a nuclear submarine. Who aspires to that job?
The most dangerous thing that happened to me, although not in the sense of immediate danger, was being picked up by a 14 y/o driving a stolen car. This was in Humbolt county about '92. He told me he was fleeing his mom and stepdad/boyfriend and going down to Marysville where his father was getting out of the joint. He offered to let me drive, but I declined and got off at the next town. It was a bit of a conundrum. I had no ability to judge the merits of his reasons for leaving, and he seemed to be driving ok, so I gave him 20$ and wished him luck.
I never really had a bad experience picking someone up.
Late 80s - guy walking down one of the back state highways near the 4 Corners. He was a bit ripe from walking in the sun, but I shared water and food with him. His lift was for a good 45 miles or so to a town.
Early 90s - a guy hitching in Alaska. Took him to the next town.
Mid 90s - saw the broken down car, a mile later saw him. Drove him to the next service station.
Late 90s - guy lucked out and rode in the back from LA to San Francisco. Dropped him off at the Cal Train station and give him $20.
I’ve only hitched in emergencies, but my father and my uncle used to hitch all over the country in the 50’s. The weirdest experience they had was a guy who said “Take me to the woods, tie me up, and beat me.”
They declined and asked to be let off at the next stop. He was willing to oblige.
There was that time in Canada in the early 80’s when we kept seeing long haired guys by the highway trying to hitch. We didn’t pick them up but after about the
15th one my mother turned to my father and announced “Someone needs to tell these people that Ford pardoned the draft dodgers!”
My sister was driving, and she picked up some guys at the gas station who wanted to go a few minutes out. They had a bunch of goodies with them. She’d already made the decision, so she went ahead and did it, but was worried she’d just helped a robbery.
She even got stopped that night, but fortunately it turned out the cops were after a similar make of car, not trying to track down thieves.
I’ve never had much opportunity to hitch or pick up hitchhikers. I’ve always lived in urban/suburban areas.
I did pick up one hitchhiker last year. Visiting our local hospital, as I drove out there was a very large, tall woman standing at the bus stop crying uncontrollably, barely able to talk. She was barely able to ask for a ride to the train station. If she had intended any harm I wouldn’t have had a chance, but as upset as she was it seemed to me she really needed help.
She had an injury to her eye and said the hospital wouldn’t treat her; she couldn’t go home because her boyfriend had hurt her. I offered to help her get help at the hospital, to put her in touch with someone who could help her with her boyfriend, but all she wanted was to get to the train so she could go to her sister’s house.
I wondered if she was going to ask for money; eventually I asked her if she needed money for the train. She wouldn’t take any help but the ride to the train.
I was glad I went with my instincts and helped her. I felt good all day for the little bit of good I did, and I wish I could have done more for her. I hope she found the help she needed. I hope it makes me more likely to help others in similar cases.
Yeah, he was, in hindsight. But when you’re 10,000 miles from home, in a temperamental car with a large, shirtless dreadlocked man who is cheerfully telling you how without his medication he gets “funny”, you do tend to run a few scenarios through your head.
Believe me, I know about mental health issues (my father is currently sectioned, but that’s by the by).
Kind of in college. Me and two friends were on our way to Costco to get …probably ramen and a bag of rice. As we got into the car, a girl- who appeared to be another student approached us and asked for a ride into town. We said sure and then three other girls appeared out of nowhere and jumped into the car. So that’s 7 people crammed into my car… which truth be told could fit skinny 6 easily.
About 20 years ago an elderly guy approached me in a parking lot as I was loading my laundry, and asked for a lift home. I obliged, as he seemed a bit mentally scattered, and I felt unthreatened. I drove him as directed to a motel a few miles away. He made rambling attempts at conversation, the one bit of wisdom I picked up being:
Passenger: “I see you drive someone else’s car.”
Me: “Huh?”
Passenger: “These days you drive someone else’s car. You don’t, they take you with them.”