Hitchhikers, why?

[Art Eatman]

I don't pick up hitchhikers as frequently as I once did. A large part of it is that I just really don't want anybody else with me. (Well, Boss Lady doesn't count. )

Anyhow, the only time a hiker got "hinky", I pointed out that I was wearing my seat belt and he wasn't--and while we were "only" doing 70, I could fix that problem quite rapidly. He allowed as how a bridge abutment at 90 or 100 would probably be hard on his precious body, and was happy to get out at the next off-ramp.

I picked up a couple of kids one time, hitching from Pensacola to San Diego. A rancher had picked them up near Kerrville, TX, and gave them two weeks work at his place. Paid good, fed good. "Gosh, fellers, I hate to see you go..." About six months later, the story broke about that rancher picking up hitchhikers and chaining them into slavery in his barn, working them at gunpoint. I've often reflected on those kids' good fortune, getting gone before the rancher went over the edge.

Art

 

[homeka45]

I would never pick one up, guess I'm just not trusting enough.

 

[bigmike45]

Picking up hitchhikers is very dangerous and I will not do so...... for someone broken down I will call someone to help them, a friend, wrecker, etc. with my cell phone and stay with them until help arrives. This way I have control and am not distracted by driving my vehicle in case they have intentions less than honorable. I will never consiously refuse to assist someone in need.....but I will do everything I can to assist them and protect myself at the same time.

 

[Rabid Rabbit]

The only time I picked anybody up he looked like a used car salesman, turned out to be a used boat salesman and the father of a friend of mine in high school. After he lectured me on picking up strangers and finding out who he was I showed him the opened buck 110 knife in the door pocket.

 

[ScorpioVI]

When I was stationed at Ft. Drum, NY (upstate) I did a lot of wandering just checking out the countryside. Gave a few rides to hitchhikers and all turned out OK. That part of the country, bus service to smaller towns don't exist and if you don't have a car you're walking.

Most of the people I gave rides to were just normal average folks trying to get somewhere in life but aren't blessed with the brains/opportunities that some of us have. I always felt good helping out honest folk. The one strange guy I picked up, and I don't mean creepy strange, was an honest-to-dog traveling clown. Ended up giving me his card who I passed on to one of my Sergeants for his kid's birthday.

Living in the Bay Area now, and I almost never give rides. The one exception I make are to motorcyclists who are stranded on the freeway, since I am one myself. Usually it's just riders who ran out of gas but I've had the occassional flat-tire or two. Karma, you know. If I ever find myself out there in 100ºF weather, pushing a 375lb bike in full leathers, I hope somebody would stop for me too.

 

[Ivy Mike]

I'll stop to help or give a ride to someone in apparent need. I don't pick up hitchhikers though. Far too many nutjobs out and about not counting myself.

The reason I do stop to help is because of help I have recieved from kind folks.

A buddy and I were out riding 3 wheelers in the desert arond Las Vegas. He needed gas and didn't bring an extra can. Instead of using mine, he headed back to his place to gas up and we agreed to meet up in two hours at a common location.

Problem is that not ten minutes after he took off, my bike fouled a plug. No biggy I think. I dismount, pull out my tools and spare plug and promptly drop the spare plug. The porcelain shatters and the plug is ruined.

I started walking and crossed a good three miles when I came across a family who had just unloaded their dirtbikes. My dress probably clued them in to what I was doing (riding jersey, jeans and riding boots w/helemt in hand) The father of the family helped me push my busted bike a total of three miles BACK to his truck (area I was in was pretty much inacceesible to larger vehicles) and helped me load it. He then drove me all the way back to my house, helped me unload and even offered me a ride back out to the spot we met.
The guy wouldn't take any money or even liquid refereshment. Damn nice guy.

I rode over to my friends house to find him sleeping on the couch.
some friend!

 

[The Goose]

Like a lot of other folks I did a lot of hitchhiking back in the late 60's and early 70's. Very common back then. Only had a problem one time when I got picked late at night by some drunk high school kids in West Virginia who beat me up pretty good and left me on the side of the road. They did not rob me or anything, just drunk kids with nothing better to do. Over the years I became more cautious and since I now owned a vehicle I never hitchhiked and as times changed I would only pick up someone who appeared to be in trouble. Usually a broken down car or something. Last year I was driving in a torrential rainstorm, the temperature was near freezing and the traffic was moving very slowly on the highway. As I chugged along I noticed a guy with his thumb out in the breakdown lane. He looked really wet and cold and he also looked a bit scary. Long hair, beard, crappy clothes etc., a regular throwback to the afore mentioned 60's. Traffic ground to a halt and he was right next to my car staring at me. I felt so quilty. I motioned him into the car. Now at this point I need to mention that I often smoke a cigar when I am driving home in the evening and on this occasion I was also. The guy jumps into the car and the first words out of his mouth are: "Hey, man that thing stinks!" Not thank you or it's great to be out of the rain, but a complaint about my cigar. I looked at him hard and growled "let it go!". We drove for about a mile in silence and then he says: "Seriously, that thing stinks could you please put it out?" At which point I pulled over and told him to get the hell out of my car which thankfully he did. He leveled a few choice epithets at me accompanied by the middle finger salute. I guess I was lucky that he was not some deranged killer or something. However, at that moment I would contend that I was the more dangerous of the two of us. I was not armed, but I have been smoking cigars for over 30 years and during that time I have caught a ration from every dogooder who objects to my nasty habit and by God nobody gets in my car and tells me to put out my cigar. I can't smoke virtually anywhere else anymore and I have been backed into a corner so it is a big mistake to enter my "space" and get in my face. If that punk had blinked or twitched the wrong way I would have bitten his ear off. Although my last remarks are somewhat tongue in cheek (or ear in mouth) and I do not recommend picking up crazed looking hitchhikers in general, I would also say that if you ever find yourself stuck in the rain and a gray haired fat guy in a Grand Marquis offers you a ride do not say squat about his cigar puffing!

 

[Markheck1]

Only if I happen upon them while they are broken down, and if I think noone will be along soon, which is very very rare. Once in last 15 yrs or so. Will not pick up a girl alone....Never....all she has to do is claim attempted rape, bye bye guns, bye bye CCW, bye bye life...ain't happenin....what if she freaks, pulls a knife.....even tho I am armed usually, she'll just claim I had the gun and pulled it on her first...and the sheeples will side with the poor defensless girl...No Way

 

[rlq9thrk]

"If you find life boring, risk it."
--Voltaire--

 

[thorn726]

*****OK= How's this for a REason- i had been stuck in SF area. had been robbed for most of my things. tried to hang out in SF city, but everyone on the street was either weirdo perv or speed or heroin junkie.
ran out of money.
did NOT want to go back to NY (winter coming)
had friends who would let me stay and get a job in FL. , other frineds form NY who now lived along the way, had never seen much of TX , the southwest, or the deep south.

i guess i could have gotten a bus ticket from my parents, i did end up using the bus for part of the trip, but i just didnt want to ask my parents for $$.

it was probably the most memorable 12 days of my life. i met people EVerywhere, all kinds. saw everything.

"Hey, man that thing stinks!" Not thank you or it's great to be out of the rain, but a complaint about my cigar. I looked at him hard and growled "let it go!". We drove for about a mile in silence and then he says: "Seriously, that thing stinks could you please put it out?" At which point I pulled over and told him to get the hell out of my car which thankfully he did. He leveled a few choice epithets at me accompanied by the middle finger salute.

some nerve. i admit one time i got stuck for hours and hours and i was SCREaming at passing cars, highway patrol , etc. , yelling curses. not that they could hear me. i was getting too old, and had a mean looking (but friendly) dog.
after five hours (and this was a busy road) a guy picked me up, he'd seen me there much earlier on his way into town.

that last journey, from SF to Grants Pass OR, it was too much. it took i think 4 days. i just got too old, and the dog at the time, etc , it all scares people.
that's the trouble - hitching works best for younger people, wh oare at the most risk of being over taken. I won't get into the few not so good rides i've gotten , some quick thinking and a LOT of praying always got me out fine, i was lucky. if you gotta d oit you gotta do it.

you would not believe the number of very pretty women who have given me rides. the hitcher just has to look right, driver has to be a good judge of people. (doesnt hurt to be armed or something)
THE BEST- stuck in nowhere desert in NorCal. HOT girl (23?) i am 20, this Hot Blonde, in a REd fiero pulls up, tells me hey get in, and first thing she says is "great! now you tell me if i am going the right way!"
she took me right into SF, we were both headed there. wish i could say more happened. heheh, but she just dropped me off.

i am strictly refering to higway/interstate travel here. once inside urban/suburban areas ,. its a whole different story. people should have their own way across town, or walk.
in the city people only hitch to try and rob/ beg from you

 

[WEPS]

I normally don't give people rides unless i know them, but i have been known to give 10.00 or 20.00 bucks for a cab. When i first joined the military i didn't have a car and allot of gracious folks helped me out here and there. I made a promise to myself that when i did get a vehicle i would help people as others had helped me.

 

[lizard43]

No More Riders

I hitched a lot of rides myself in the 70s, but it was always small town places (Gitmo Cuba, northern MN) with no worries. Until about 20 years ago, I also sometimes gave rides to "safe" looking people.

My last rider was in Orlando about 1985. I like to park way out in the parking lot at work, so I can de-stress on the walk out from hell. As I approached my truck, an older man (about 50) came from the side street and asked for a ride to the corner store. Sure, no problem. Once at the store, the old man wouldn't get out, he just flat refused to leave.

After asking nicely for a bit, I started to get mad and ended up threatening him with a softball bat. The guy pissed himself right there on my seat and got out. I washed out the cab right away, scrubbed that seat a dozen times, but my truck smelled like urine for a year.

Oh, I did pick up a lady and her daughter after they ran out of gas last year in Long Beach. And I guess I gave that one guy at the library a ride after we couldn't jump his car. Well, I'll still help people in trouble, but I won't pick up pissy looking people ever again!

 

[Kurt S.]

I used to hitch around Florida a bit- several times had my Navy uniform on, hitching back from Reserve weekends, Jacksonville to Ft. Lauderdale. It was pretty easy to get a ride in FL those days when you had a uniform on. This was in the '70s. Never a problem.

I picked up a lot of hitchers and never had a problem but one time. I had to run somebody out of my vehicle, and I'd rather not discuss the situation. Nothing anybody could learn from it and it was a long time ago anyway.

Last time I hitchiked was back in graduate school late '80s. I was living in a small west Texas town, Alpine, at the time. My wife and I were supposed to meet a geologist from the USGS in Carlsbad, NM to help him do some field work. Our truck broke down outside of Van Horn (the home of the famous "diesel fried chicken" sign you've probably seen in email forwards). A nice elderly couple in an RV picked us up. They said they didn't normally do things like that but we looked okay. At the time I was a more-or-less clean cut fellow, I usually dressed in jeans, western style shirts, and boots or hiking shoes. My wife has always looked good, of course.

These days, even though I CCW everywhere it's legal, and I almost always have OC spray and a pocket folding knife on me, I wouldn't hitch myself unless it's an emergency, or pick up riders. I will stop and help if I think it looks legitimate, even let somebody use my cell phone, but no riders, thanks.

 

[Kurt S.]

I used to hitch around Florida a bit- several times had my Navy uniform on, hitching back from Reserve weekends, Jacksonville to Ft. Lauderdale. It was pretty easy to get a ride in FL those days when you had a uniform on. This was in the '70s. Never a problem.

I picked up a lot of hitchers and never had a problem but one time. I had to run somebody out of my vehicle, and I'd rather not discuss the situation. Nothing anybody could learn from it and it was a long time ago anyway.

Last time I hitchiked was back in graduate school late '80s. I was living in a small west Texas town, Alpine, at the time. My wife and I were supposed to meet a geologist from the USGS in Carlsbad, NM to help him do some field work. Our truck broke down outside of Van Horn (the home of the famous "diesel fried chicken" sign you've probably seen in email forwards). A nice elderly couple in an RV picked us up. They said they didn't normally do things like that but we looked okay. At the time I was a more-or-less clean cut fellow, I usually dressed in jeans, western style shirts, and boots or hiking shoes. My wife has always looked good, of course.

These days, even though I CCW everywhere it's legal, and I almost always have OC spray and a pocket folding knife on me, I wouldn't hitch myself unless it's an emergency, or pick up riders. I will stop and help if I think it looks legitimate, let somebody use my cell phone if they need to, but no riders, thanks.

 

[Kurt S.]

Oops, double tap.

 

[NHBB]

I recently got a new 05 cadillac CTS (which got plowed into by a careless college girl in a POS car 30 seconds from my home with less than 4k miles... now fixed) and it came with onstar...

there is a nice emergency button you can press, they gps locate you... you can easily report a person in distress and an LEO figure will soon arrive. I only had to use that particular feature once, and that was when that girl decided to play russian roullette and cut across 2 lanes blindly and blast me from the side. ran about 8k in damage, good thing she accepted complete responsibility

 

[Zach S]

When the optispark died on my Carprice, not long before Christmas, a couple in their 50s(?) stopped and offered me a ride before I was halfway finished with the cig I lit when I started. A guy gave me a ride to a parts store once so I could by a new fanbelt (I now carry a spare), and took me back to my car and jumped it off after I got it changed. Someone in a foxstang swapped spares with me when mine was flat. A few people have given me a ride to the gas station so I could call someone when my car was broken, one let me use his cell.

I normally stop for someone with a disabled vehicle or someone walking unless I'm on my way to work or something important, because its been done for me. I've had "that feeling" once as the guy was aproaching my car, I bet he was mad when I drove off. If my gut says "dont," I listen. But I'll go out of my way to help someone within reason.

If they're rude, they're back on the shoulder. Doesnt bother me a bit.

I generally only stop when I'm alone, but have stopped when I wasnt. Once with freind of mine from a neighboring town, and a few times with my uncle.

One day I pulled over to help a couple of ladies in an Acura(?) with a flat tire, they couldnt figure out how the jack worked, it took me a minute to figure out. So anyway, I took the flat off, and stuck it under the car (I dont trust those little scissor jacks - I've had more than one car fall of them), put the spare on, tightened the lugs, dropped the car, torqued the lugs down, and then got a little embarassed. I sat the car down on the flat I had just took off if it...

 

[theCZ]

I've never hitchhiked, but I've been rescued once in northern Idaho on a nearly deserted highway in a blizzard. I was driving up by Lolo pass for a day of backcountry snowboarding when my alternator went out on my car. I leaned against the car for a while, snow removal guy came and went, stoned snowboarders gave me a jump which got me about a quarter mile before it died again, and then finally some guy gave me a ride back to the dorms.

If I ever see anybody in my situation, I'll be sure and stop and try to help, as long as I've got my pistol handy and they look acceptable.

 

[JohnKSa]

I've picked a person up. He was wearing an employee badge from the company where I work and was obviously walking from a disabled car. Picture matched wearer and I could tell from the badge what security clearance he held. I figured he wasn't much of a risk.

I won't pick people up as a rule. If they're obviously hitching (no disabled car around, look like they've been walking awhile or carrying luggage) I won't even stop. If it seems pretty clear that it's a car trouble situation and conditions make it unlikely that they'll get other help/can easily walk to help, I will stop, roll the window down a crack and ask if they would like me to call someone for them at the next exit. Never had anyone take me up on the offer.

The risks of letting someone in the car are far too great. I'll call someone (wrecker/police/etc.) for them if they appear to be in distress, but they're not getting in the car unless they're OBVIOUSLY not any kind of risk at all.

BTW to the guy who complained about walking 20+ miles in cold weather, I ALWAYS have a coat in the trunk if the weather warrants it. I try to carry a spare throwaway as well, but I gave away the last one to an accident victim who obviously hadn't thought about the possibility of having to stand by the side of the road in freezing weather for a few hours while a crash site was sorted out and haven't replaced it yet.

Just thought it was worth pointing out that you can help people without placing yourself at significant risk.