Were these people riding in your car voluntarily or not?
Never have. But then again I’ve never been asked for a hitchhike ride or seen one.
I haven’t seen a hitchhiker for ten years or so, but late 80s and through the 90s, I gave nearly every one that I saw a lift. I was in a bad spot in 1990 once and needed a ride about ten miles and was very grateful to the person who gave it to me and wanted to pay it forward. I never picked anyone up, though, if I already had someone in the car with me. I would never put anyone else in a potentially perilous situation.
A few months back, I was driving alone and I gave a ride to a young couple with backpacks for 30 miles.
A few years back, my wife and I were crossing Yosemite NP and picked up a couple of 30-somethings and their backpacks. They’d finished their trekking and needed a ride back to their car.
I’ll do it from time to time but you hardly see any these days, and that’s fine with me. I have a tire thumper and a few other things handy if I need them to defend myself, if the hitcher means ill will. But it’s never been a problem.
I’ve only hitched a few times, when on military bases and needing a ride to somewhere else on base. But that was over 20 years ago.
Three months ago; before I dropped him off, he warned me about some construction up ahead that my GPS might not know about. It did, but his instructions were clearer than the machine’s.
Hi,
I have never tried picking up a hitchhiker. Maybe I’m just too scared to do so.
A year or so ago I picked up two Pacific Crest Trail hikers who needed to get into town for supplies. Happy to help them and they were very grateful.
Many years ago I saw a person I knew walking the almost deserted state hhighway I drive. Because I knew the person and which county road he lived on, I picked him up. I had no fear of this guy. He did tell me if I was ever stranded and he saw me he would return the favor.
1975 or 76, not exactly sure.
Long dirt country road. Watched the car in front of me break down (lots of white smoke) and pulled over as they did. It was a couple of bubbas, one helping the other move. They were taking the gun collection on that trip, and I had the odd experience of helping them load a dozen rifles into my trunk. They didn’t want to leave them roadside.
Afterward, I thought it would make a good intro to a horror movie.
We vacation every winter in St Martin, and it’s a rare day we don’t pick up at least one hitchhiker. On two occasions we’ve driven considerably out of our way to take someone to their door and in both cases we were invited in for a nightcap.
In the US I picked up a scared young lady in the late 90s. She had attended an event and had gotten seperated from her ride home. She was on the berm with her thumb out, I stopped, and she got into the back seat of my car.
When we arrived at the intersection where she wanted out, I pulled over. She fumbled around with her door for a bit. I waited patiently, then she screamed, “LET ME OUT”. I didn’t know the car I’d owned for just 24 hours had a kid-proof setting for the back doors. I got out of the car, opened her door that way, and she bolted.
About 5 years ago. I was working in a city about 90 miles from my home. I’d drive there Mon a.m., and stay the week in a crappy apt. The drive was basically a stretch on a couple of interstates, and then about 2o miles on state highway.
As I got off the interstate, I saw an older man of color hitching. I figured, “I can take him, if need be,” and stopped. He was going to the same town as me. When I asked where, specifically, he was going to my place of business. My job involves deciding the claims of private individuals. I didn’t tell him that. Fortunately, his claim was assigned to someone else in the office.
I used to hitch all the time as a kid. In Chicago, the SOP was to get to the bus stop and stick out your thumb, taking a ride or the bis - whichever came first.
Can’t remember seeing a hitcher after I gave the guy a ride.
Anyone read John Waters’ book about hitching across America. A fun read.
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This thread reminds me of the old hitch hiker Bud Light beer commercial.
Super Bowl XLI Hitch Hiker Bud Light Commercial — Super Bowl XLI BudLight Hitch Hiker Commercial - YouTube
“But, he’s got Bud Light!” That was from 12 years ago.
</Brief diversion — no hijack>
I’ve never picked up - or been - a hitchhiker.
I used to pick them up all the time when I was young but it would be decades since I did. Until I saw this thread and thought about it I hadn’t realized that I haven’t seen anyone hitchhiking in a very, very long time. I guess the advent of multi-lane highways that bypass most rural towns has a lot to do with it.
Never have, but I hitched a number of times when I was a young Navy E-2 in California trying to get to my girlfriend’s house. Got picked up once by a guy who made a detour to score some pot, then dropped me off.
Just a few weeks ago. Very well-dressed man, appeared to be in his early 60’a, trying to get from Steelville (at the bottom of a mountain) to Cuba (at the top), a distance of about eight miles. I was headed that way anyway, so I took him. Asked me to drop him off at a truck stop where a relative of his worked; it wasn’t out of the way, so it was no big deal.
I actually pick up hitchhikers pretty regularly. I figure the day may come when I need to hitch a ride, and so if I put good into the universe it may some day come back for me.
I rarely see hitchhikers anymore. Last time I think was when my grandson was 6 years old, he is 24 now - so 18 years.
On the other hand I drive a taxi in Copenhagen. If that counts, I was flagged down two times around 1500. It is now 1900, so 4 hours ago I picked up some strangers (from Tokyo).
Should I see a hitchhiker, I would pick him up if I had room and was in my own car.
Another never-never.
Never for me, as well. It seems like it might be a generational thing; when I was growing up in the 1980s and 90s I was taught by my parents that picking up hitchhikers can be dangerous and is something you should never do.
My dad has a Japanese friend (they were roommates back in the 1970s) who hitchhiked around the US (or maybe it was around the world; I don’t remember the details). If I remember correctly he was in the middle of this trip during the time he was roommates with my dad, stopping just long enough to earn enough money to continue his travels. When a police officer approached him while he was hitchhiking and informed him that hitchhiking was illegal it whatever locality he was in, avoided a ticket by pretending to not speak English. In fact his English is very good; he actually teaches English back in Japan now.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a hitchhiker out in these parts. I’ve hitchhiked in Europe back in the mid-90s, but that was the only time hitchhiking seemed at all normal to me. Come to think of it, I’m 43 and I have never seen a hitchhiker at all in the US. I know they exist, as I do have a friend who did it, but I’ve literally never seen one. I don’t even know where I’d find a hitchhiker around here. The closest for me was giving a ride to some older Polish lady who didn’t speak English (but I speak Polish) at the local park who was desperately trying to find someone who spoke her language to give her a ride to work (about 2 miles away.) I left my wife with the kids and gave her a lift, but she insisted on paying me, so it was more like some sort of Eastern European Uber service than hitchhiking or anything of the sort.