Ever pick up a Hitchhiker?

[Haole Girl]

I only picked up hitchhikers a couple of times-- when I was much younger (and naive).

When I was driving through a mountain pass, in Oregon once, I spotted what appeared to be an old woman, in distress, standing beside a broken down car. It really seemed like the the middle of nowhere. Since my college bf (big, strong, lumberjack..he was) was with me, I thought it might be safe enough. So, without even asking him (my bf), I immediately pulled over to the shoulder of the highway and asked her if she needed a ride. As the old woman came up to the driver's side window, closer to me, I could tell she appeared to be homeless. She asked, "How far are you going...I'm going to Oakland?" She was very weathered, hadn't taken a bath in quite awhile, and her lower lip was cracked and bleeding. I told her to get in and I'd take her as far as I could. As she went around to the back door of the car, my bf sarcastically whispered to me, "Nice going, Sharon." She introduced herself as "Lil." I remember thinking, right away, that something didn't seem right about Lil. As we headed down I-5, "Lil" sort of crept up between my bf and myself, between the two front seats, and started asking questions. She asked me what my college major was. When I told her Anthropology, she replied in what seemed like the most bizarre voice I've ever heard, "Oh...bones...I *like* bones!" That was it. I pulled over, immediately, at a McDonald's and told her we'd buy her lunch, but that's as far as we were going! That was the last hitchhiker I ever picked up!

Have any hitchhiker stories?

[taterguy]

1. No one is going to be able to respond to this

It's well established that all hitchhikers are either fresh out of prison or murderers who haven't been caught yet.

It's unpossible to pick one up and live to tell the tale.

[Haole Girl]

2. lol!

You may be right!

:rofl:

[Whoa_Nelly]

17. No one's going to respond to this

but, "unpossible" isn't a word. :P

:hi: taterguy! ;)

[taterguy]

20. But it's an effective way of conveying that my post isn't serious

Since I'm too lazy to find the :sarcasm: tag

[Whoa_Nelly]

24. Well, as Tennessee Ernie Ford would say...

Bless your pea-pickin' heart!

[Joe Fields]

33. OMG! A rare AND obscure Tennessee Ernie Ford reference...

You've jumped up several notches in my book, Nelly...:toast:

[Whoa_Nelly]

36. ROFL

Used to watch his show when I was little, and he was always make appearances on other TV shows, too.

Have always loved that sayin: Bless your pea-pickin' heart! Don't know why, but when I say it (in my native Okie drawl) people laugh like it makes them feel good.

[mitchum]

45. When I was very young (6 or 7), I used to confuse Tennessee Ernie Ford...

and Tennessee Williams. Seriously. They both were on TV frequently, had similar physical appearances and mannerisms, and had "Tennessee" in their names. Eventually, I learned that they were indeed not the same person.

[Joe Fields]

32. surely you jest...

[mikeytherat]

3. One. From a buddy's roommate in college.

He was returning from a regional airport after dropping off his girlfriend, and spotted a "college-looking" couple on the roadside with a dead car. He pulled over and offered them a ride, and everything was cool...for about five minutes.

The man of the couple put a knife to his throat and made him pull over. He was tied up and placed in the trunk while the couple drove across several state lines. Periodically, the man would pull him from the trunk and force my buddy's roommate to fight. While still bound. Often the knife was held to his throat - he still has scars from the cuts.

Eventually the couple pulled into a bar early one morning and he was able to kick his way out of the trunk.

After that, no more hitchhikers for me!

mikey_the_rat

[Haole Girl]

4. Eeek!

:scared:

[Bassic]

13. Did the couple get caught? nt

[mikeytherat]

48. Excellent question!

Seriously! I had not heard from this friend for some time, and she re-appeared on my radar about a year ago. I was graduating at the time and never knew how it resolved; I should ask her.

mikey_the_rat

[AggieGal]

60. That is freaky scary.

[Orsino]

68. No.

I always think about picking up the hitchhikers I see, but the risk just seems to be too great. It's a shame; I'm a big fan of the concept of ride-sharing.

[Inchworm]

5. I hitched through the Northeast and Midwest

I don't remember murdering anyone or being fresh out of prison, hehe. I was recently out of Navy; that might be similar.

It was quite an experience. I was asked to and attended several parties and met some pretty fascinating people. I met families in the middle of their routines. I saw beautiful places.

It was early '90s when it was already taboo to hitchhike so I did do a lot of walking :)

:hi:

[Haole Girl]

6. Glad you survived it!

:hi:

[kwassa]

7. in the good old days, I hitched long distances cross-country

and picked up hitchers, too. My longest hitch was from Ohio to Wyoming. I did Ohio to the east coast several times.

Back in the '70s. By the late '70s the days of love, peace, and happiness were ending, and wierd incidents were hitting the news, and it was much tougher to get rides. And, I had a car by that time.

[Haole Girl]

9. Yeah...

It does seem like it was a different world, when we look back, doesn't it?

That was a very long hitch, btw!

[skygazer]

8. I pick them up all the time

I hitched across the country alone in '78 when I was 17 - did it again in '98. Met a lot of nice people, had a lot of cool adventures.

It's very difficult for me to drive by a hitchhiker. I know what it's like to stand there with your thumb out. I know what it feels like to have every driver wondering if you're an axe murderer or something.

I don't pick up everybody - I do discriminate a bit. It worries the hell out of my boyfriend. So be it. You know, there are better ways to find someone to rape, kill, dismember and torture than to stand out on a fucking highway with your thumb out. Pretty arbitrary, don't you think?

I've never met a hitchhiker who scared me.

[Haole Girl]

10. Just be careful

Remember, "you can't judge a book by its cover!"

:hug:

[Inchworm]

14. Same here

If they don't mind riding in van with me and my dogs they usually are getting a ride. I have picked up a few that were a little twitchy from a bad night, but other than that none ever scared me

:)

[mark414]

78. me neither...and i've never gotten a ride that scared me

although i have turned rides down...all you gotta do is look in the eyes. same reason why i never hold up a sign (just my thumb), so someone can't tell me they're going that direction when they're not...

last january or so (2006) i was in southern arizona trying to head north when i got a quick ride about 20 miles up the road. within 10 minutes i had another lift, from a group of people who said they'd seen me 20 miles back, and if i had made it up here it means i didn't kill my last ride, so they knew i was alright.

i laughed, because it was funny, but seriously...if i was going to kill somebody, why would i stand on the side of a hot dusty road and wait for (potentially) hours and hours and hours? it's very inefficient...i could be doing a lot of axe murdering with all that waiting time.

[skygazer]

105. Yup, I've turned rides down, too

And I feel the same way about signs. I've had a couple of situations that might have gone either way but I've found that if you're not projecting yourself as a victim, you're less likely to be one (and I don't mean I blame victims for what happens to them - just that often the types that prey on people are looking for vulnerability. If they don't perceive it, they sometimes pass over you).

Worst thing that ever happened to me on the road was getting let off in a lousy spot to get another ride. I can't complain about that.

[Breeze54]

106. Sorry! LMAO!!

:rofl:

[Left Is Write]

11. Yes. It must have been in the '87 or '88, because I was driving my '75 Buick.

I picked up a teenage boy who needed a ride home. My instinct told me he was "safe," and he was.

However, I would be unlikely to do that again.

[Haole Girl]

15. I'm glad he was "safe"

Some people have really good instincts. I don't trust mine-- never have. Guess I've just been lucky to survive some of the people I've met in my life!

[YDogg]

101. Sound like the beginning of a Penthouse letter ...

... he wrote, hopefully.

:evilgrin:

[deepthought42]

12. No, but always make sure they have a towel.

:D

[Haole Girl]

16. huh?

Remember who you're replying to...I'm a little slow!

[deepthought42]

21. I'm such a nerd, lol. I don't expect everyone to get it.

[Haole Girl]

22. Oh...

...of course. Thanks. :hi:

[Inchworm]

23. A towel?

A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitch hiker can have. Partly it has great practical value - you can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapours; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a mini raft down the slow heavy river Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or to avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (a mindboggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't see you - daft as a bush, but very ravenous); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.

hehe..

:hi:

I know, I'm slow :)

[deepthought42]

25. ha ha ha ha ha

:rofl:

That's what I'm talking about! :freak:

[texas1928]

26. That was my first thought when I read the Subject line.

I was going to reply "Mine for some reason always have a fit about their towel."

[deepthought42]

27. lmao...mine too... n/t

[MissMillie]

31. I was thinking the same thing

only if they have a towel.

[realisticphish]

70. I ONLY pick up hoopy froods

[deepthought42]

71. Froody.

:thumbsup:

Care for a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster? :toast: :beer: :nuke: :banghead:

lol

[realisticphish]

75. I definitely enjoy

having my brain smashed in by a lemon wrapped around a gold brick :D

[deepthought42]

84. While whistling the Star Spangled Banner?

*lmao*

No, wait, that was the dolphins. I miss them already...

[realisticphish]

85. apparently

they DID like the fish :shrug:

[deepthought42]

87. Yes, they did...and our tiny tots and pregnant women...

:rofl:

I love when dolphins do musical numbers! :freak:

[realisticphish]

91. i was kind of encouraged

when the movie started out like that... and then not so much :(

[RedCappedBandit]

95. ah, you beat me to it

:)

[unsavedtrash]

100. Never leave home without it

RIP Douglas

[Breeze54]

103. Lots of hitchhikers at the beach!

:P Or there used to be!

[leftofthedial]

18. no, but one time, coming home from band camp?

I found a severed, bloody hook trapped in my car window

[Haole Girl]

19. Alright

Were you parked at a cemetery, too? ;-)

[leftofthedial]

30. dark and stormy night,

escaped killer report on the car radio . . .

you get the picture

I used to pick up hitchers a l-o-n-g time ago. It's not a good idea anymore, if it ever was.

[Haole Girl]

39. Well, I tend to agree...

..but, I have read too many crime stories, probably, too.

I'm a little torn on the subject.

The really bad part? It's often a ploy, by predators, to act as if their car has mechanical problems or is out of gas, etc. Many people have no idea...they are just trusting and unsuspecting.

[Jade Fox]

99. Thank god you got away just in time!!!

;)

[undeterred]

28. I picked one up crossing the Columbia river between WA and OR

There I was, a female alone driving my Subaru Outback rental on a business trip.

He was an Amsrican Indian, an older man, and he walked up to my drivers side window and asked for a ride. In my head it seemed like a bad idea but I felt totally safe with him. I drove him a few miles and he told me local history the whole time. It was the most interesting few minutes of my day and I didn't feel threatened at all.

[Haole Girl]

29. Nice story

I, too, gave a ride to a Native American...on Thanksgiving day, one year. It seemed like the right thing to do, too. :hug:

[Kali]

34. yeah - there is a local "character" who hitches everywhere. I usually

pick him up - sometimes go out of my way and haul him all the way to town or to his house. (if he has bathed, otherwise it's the short version just to the highway!)

I always pick up rural Mexicans or Indians if in thier locals, used to pick up Interstate hitchers but it freaks the husband out too much so I don't do it anymore. I'm like Skygazer - family more likely to harm you than some poor slob looking for a ride (or work!)

A fair percent are a little mentally deficient or damaged, but I have never felt threatened. And whil I never did any real traveling that way I have broken down any number of times and needed to flag a ride. So I figure the old karma thing is at play sometimes.

[Haole Girl]

37. Very kind of you

Nice to hear someone still thinks like that. Wish I could!

[Taverner]

35. I picked up one once - ever hear the axiom "Gas, grass or ass?"

Well he had grass - lots of it. This was the 80's, and I was coming back from Susanville and picked up this guy coming from Ukiah. Anyway, after dropping him off in San Rafael, he pulled out his duffel bag and it was PACKED with Cheech and Chong sized - buds. Anyway, he hands me what I believe to be a Quarter Pound and said thanks for the ride.

I realize not all hitchiker stories end up this way.

[Haole Girl]

38. You're right...

Not all hitchhiker stories end up that way!

[geardaddy]

40. Never picked one up, but

a friend of mine in college used to hitch to concerts in upstate NY in the 80s. Instead of holding up a sign that had where he wanted to go written on it, he held up a sign that said, "Harmless".

[Haole Girl]

49. lol!

Cute! :-)

[AggieGal]

61. Humm, I could use a "harmless" sign

to trick people in to picking me up. Thanks for the tip! :)

[Joe Fields]

41. Hitching was a way of life for me, for a few years, back in the old days.

I wouldn't do it nowadays. Definitely not friendly environs. Would rather walk, if need be.

[Haole Girl]

50. I tend to agree

I don't think I'd do it now...under just about any circumstances.

[KG]

42. yep, it was great. and my story about it was published in 'penthouse forums'

:hi:

[Haole Girl]

51. Um...

Never mind...

:hi:

[billyskank]

43. No, but a couple of times I have felt guilty for not stopping.

There have been a couple of times when I have gone past a person holding a sign for the very place I am going to, or a place I will pass on my way.

[Haole Girl]

52. I could see that...

...because you're so sweet!

:hi:

[Xithras]

44. Only in my pickup.

I'll occasionally let hitchhikers ride in the back if my kids aren't in the truck with me. My stepdad was once carjacked and kidnapped by a hitchhiker, so I know better than to let them inside my car or into the cab of my truck. Still, I live in a rural area and hitchhiking farmworkers are a common site, so I try to be courteous.

[Haole Girl]

53. Wow...

Was your stepdad okay?

:scared:

[Xithras]

76. Yeah, he outsmarted the guy

He had a very nice old GMC Stepside pickup with saddle tanks (3 gas tanks, which was a factory option for many years). He offered the guy a ride, and after talking about how "awesome" the old truck was for a while, the hitchhiker pulled a knife on him and told him "I'm not going to hurt you, I just want the truck". My stepdad offered to stop and get out, but the kidnapper refused and instead started giving him directions to a remote farming area.

At one point in the drive, the kidnapper wasn't paying attention, so my stepdad reached down and turned the fuel tank knob from the primary tanks, to the practically empty saddle tanks. A couple of miles down the road, the truck finally shuddered to a stop. Here's where the quick thinking part comes in. My stepdad admitted to the kidnapper that the truck was out of gas, and that it had saddle tanks which contained fuel. He told the guy that the tanks could only be switched by tur9ning a knob under the hood. With the kidnappers permission, he opened his door and slid out and the kidnapper slid across the bench seat behind him. As the kidnapper was starting to slide out of the truck, however, my stepdad threw his entire body weight against the door, slamming it on the guys body (and GM used heavy steel on their doors back them). He then slammed the guy a few more times with the door, and took off across a cornfield for a nearby farmhouse. The guy chased him a very short distance before taking off in another direction.

My stepdad made it to the farmhouse and was OK, and the local deputies picked up the kidnapper a couple miles away...trying to hitch a ride on the side of the road. He ended up spanding 4 years in jail for carjacking and a handful of other charges. My stepdad got a CCW, but until the day he died he NEVER stopped picking up hitchhikers.

[mitchum]

46. Only Sadie and Lulu...man, those chicks were nutty!

[Haole Girl]

54. Ok. n/t

[Rhythm]

47. Yeah... i've picked up a few hitchers...

Nothing long-distance, but i have picked up a few people walking on dusty country roads, and once even an old homeless guy who was heading to the downtown shelter.

I also give money and food to homeless people, even the ones holding up signs in traffic (though i know that a lot of times it's a scam)
i've been there (20+ yrs ago... don't ask), so i know what a difference even a few bucks can make.

[Haole Girl]

55. It's great you didn't forget...

...how it was. A lot of people do, you know. :hug:

[catmandu57]

56. But he's got bud light!

A few here and there, mostly I was on the other side airing my thumb out, back in the day it was full of magic just like Sissy Hankshaw Gitche's. During the raygun years it really didn't make sense to stick around my old home town, there wasn't any work or hope of getting any, so as soon as it got warm I'd be gone for the season.
Anyway, I carried my home with me and always had a stove, food, the works, one night on the west side of Oklahoma City, I went off in the woods beside the road to camp for the night, and at daybreak the next morning made my breakfast and prepared to resume the journey.
I walked up to the interstate, and lying on the shoulder of the road, not ten feet from where cars and trucks were driving as fast as they could get away with in those days, lay an honest to god bum, this guy smelled like he hadn't bathed in months, had an old plaid suit jacket, filthy slacks, worn out shoes no socks and was shivering and snoring at the same time.
My camp was about twenty five yards away from him, I thought about waking him up and feeding him, but I could tell it'd be like feeding a homeless dog I'd never get rid of him, so, I walked about a mile up the road and started my hitch from there.
If I see someone decked out like I was I'll give them a lift in no time, they're just trying to get somewhere else.

[crispini]

73. Even Cowgirls Get the Blues!

Great book!

[NewWaveChick1981]

57. Absolutely not.

:scared: I have known one woman who was kidnapped at gunpoint by a man in a shopping center who asked her for a ride. She said no, but he forced the issue. Fortunately, she was not hurt, but he forced her to drive him around town for five hours before finally giving up.

No sirree...no hitchhikers for me. :(

[IA_Seth]

58. One time...

It was in town, my friend and I were driving my dad's pickup, so we didn't think it could be that bad. We were 16 at the time, or thereabouts, the guy seemed nice enough as we let him into the bed of the truck.

He needed a ride to such-and-such address, which was on the same street as my dad's place of employment, so I knew right where it was...

Well I had forgotten that there was a half-way house on that street, and lo-and-behold it was the address he needed. We pulled up, noticed 2 cop cars, and he jumped from the bed, bolted out and ran away. The cops of course told us that he was going to be arrested for violating his terms of staying at the half-way facility (after a lengthy questioning and a warning about hitchhikers). We are probably lucky he was in the truck bed and not the cab. Also lucky I didnt get a ticket (since I think it is illegal)

Anyway, I didn't do that anymore! My brother on the other hand has hitch-hiked more than a dozen times when he was without a license. He always turned out ok.

[EstimatedProphet]

59. My dad used to pick people up all the time

They'd ride in the back with us kids. He'd get stoned with them while he was driving down the road.

[TheCentepedeShoes]

62. Just once

Was living in Thonotosassa FL (yeah, it's a real place, just NE of Tampa) and was on the way to the grocery. Saw a guy and a girl carrying a toddler heading toward town. Stopped to see where they were going. Going to the gas station on the corner where the grocery was to pick up their car following repairs. It was a hot summer day and at that point they still had another mile and a half to go. Nice people.
The only other time I gave a ride to a stranger was at the request of my BF circa 1973. Going into town and the BF asked if I could drop off his 'buddy' on the way. He seemed ok, but about a half mile down the road he said he wanted to tag along with me. Uh, no, I have 'business' to attend to. Then he grabs the wheel and tries to pull the car off the road. I keep control, pull into a Circle K, open the passenger door, pull him out and proceed (all 110 lbs of me) to kick his ass all over the parking lot and drive off. Last I heard he hung around the Circle K acting weird until the manager called the cops.

[Xipe Totec]

63. As a mater of fact, I do have a story...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=3444530&mesg_id=3444788

(PS: Make sure to read some of the other stories on this thread; they are heart warming).

[SPKrazy]

64. Well I did once

but they told me to put them back down :D

actually I have, and have no story or even anything of interest that happened.

I do remember hitchhiking as a teenager to skip school.

School was 20 miles from home, and in Jr. High we could catch a ride and bypass home and go to the nearest larger town and go to the mall or somewhere else.

Didn't do that a lot though, there was already that fear instilled that it might be dangerous.

:shrug:

:hi:

[HuskerDU]

65. Many times.

Shoot my friends and I hitchhiked about 20-30 times back in the 80's before any of us had a drivers license. Jumped on trains a bunch of times too. We liked to go places and these methods were sometimes the best options.

I haven't picked up a hitchhiker in a couple of years, but then again I haven't seen many if any since then. I just like helping people out when I can. Pulling over and giving a person a ride can make their day without hindering yours in any way. Maybe it's dumb, but I don't live in fear.

[mark414]

80. well said

and yer only the 2nd person here on DU that i know has also spent some time on the rails...good to meet another, brother.

i'm leaving in a week to go on a hitchhiking/train riding trek for a few months...so if you see a dirty but unassuming short haired white kid...pick me up!

[HuskerDU]

92. Damn that sounds like fun mark414!

You soak up every bit of that freedom brother.

[Blue_In_AK]

66. I've picked up hitchhikers before...

I feel it's my duty since I hitchhiked so much myself when I was younger.

[mark414]

67. i'm leaving in a week for another long hitchhiking trip

so you folks better pick me up....

[TommyO]

69. Yes, but it was somebody that I knew.

[SoCalDem]

72. When I was in college I did it ALL THE TIME..now..NEVER

and when I was a teenager in Florida in 1965, we used to have "hitchhiking races" to get to beaches. We would break into teams, and challenge each other to how fast we could get from Miami to Ft Lauderdale or Daytona. Needless to say, we girls like to stick together. We usually "won".. Teenage girls in swimsuits & flipflops usually got rides faster than geeky boys :P..

But then life was different back then :)

[jgraz]

74. I do it every few days

There's a sweet older woman with no car who hitches her way up and down from the hills around my house. I give her a ride whenever I can.

[sammythecat]

77. The late 60's and early 70's was the Golden Era for hitchhiking.

Hitchhikers were a common sight on the highways and I was often one of them. I hitchhiked everywhere. Cross country twice and all over the East. I was able to commute 55 miles my sophomore year in college 3-5 times a week with my thumb and a sign. It was an easy and remarkably reliable way to get around. Whenever I did have a car I always picked up hitchers if I thought I was going far enough to help.

I don't know how many times I got in a stranger's car or let a stranger in mine but the count would have to start with at least a couple thousand. I have a few stories from all of that, but I never came to harm and never felt in danger. There were certainly times I should have felt in danger but I was naive enough not to realize it and, looking back, I have to say I was very lucky as well.

Oh, to be lucky and naive again!

It seems like the hitchhiking era came to an abrupt end sometime in the later 70's. Hitchhikers disappeared. Today I wouldn't pick up a hitcher and, if I was 18 again, I would have to be absolutely desperate before I'd consider hitching. Today, I fear, it might be more fortunate to not get a ride than to get one. I'd be afraid to do it today, and long distance hitching would be an exercise in survival skills.

I don't know what, but it says something about our society that hitchhiking was once common but now is something that isn't done and shouldn't be done. There was always a bit of risk but now it's just flat out dangerous. And futile.

[mark414]

79. no way...not at all

i spent 8 months last year hitchhiking around this country, got hundreds of rides and never felt even slightly scared or threatened once. and i went to all four corners of the lower 48.

and it's a lot easier than you might think...

it's only dangerous because people try to tell you that it is. but it's not. at all.

[bicentennial_baby]

82. You're also male...

Which might have a role in why you feel so safe doing it. :)

[mark414]

83. absolutely true

though i've met more than a few girls more than willing to go and do it on their own

[sammythecat]

86. Discounting any anecdotes to the contrary,

a lone girl hitching rides on the highway is engaging in nothing less than self-destructive behavior. Whether she realizes it or not.

[mark414]

94. how patriarchal of you...

[sammythecat]

96. Sorry if it came across that way.

I didn't mean to sound patriarchal and I'm not the patriarchal "type".

What I said just seems like common sense to me. You and I have done a lot of hitchhiking and never had a bad experience. That's great, but every time we got in a stranger's car, or picked up a stranger, we surrendered our power and became vulnerable. If that person was malicious and had a weapon, or was big enough to physically overpower us, there was precious little we could have done to stop them from doing whatever they wanted. No matter what you consider the odds, reason says we were taking a risk. It's unreasonable to think anything else.

Small guys are at more risk than big guys, and the average female is at more risk than the average male. Is this not correct? Would I be condescending or patriarchal to myself if I said I was at greater risk than another guy who was 6 inches taller and 50 pounds heavier?

[catmandu57]

88. I think you're right

If I had the opportunity and could do it phyically I'd be on the road right now. If you happen to come through nwmo on your trip stop in we'll put you up for however long.

[CabalPowered]

81. I've picked up several in Oregon

Picked up one guy headed to the slopes. He was cool, chopped xmas trees for a living.

Picked up another guy in Florence. He was on 1000 mile bike tour and stopped in Florence for groceries. While inside, someone stole all his gear and his bike. Luckily he had his wallet so I gave him a ride to the train station in Eugene and he headed home.

[Javaman]

89. Sure have...

Gave a guy a hitch in the middle of a major snow storm. Another guy a ride that ran out of gas. rides to people going to the beach. even gave a guy in a wheel chair a ride.

[bamacrat]

90. No, but I dated a dumbass girl once who did..

It was post Katrina in Mobile and this guy was walking down the road at night and she pick him up, I told her that was stupid considering the amount of theft going on at the time. He parents agreed. If she were a guy it might not have been as bad, but a small girl alone at night should not pick up a hitchhiker.

[kskiska]

93. Yes, at a highway rest stop in Austria

My mother, sister, and I were headed back to our car when we were approached by a young guy named Christian Thalhammer asking for a ride home to Vienna. He was returning from work in Sweden at a Volvo factory. He asked if we had a small space (indicating with his hands) available in our car. We reluctantly said okay, then he ran back to get his big bag. He rode with us to Vienna sharing a bag of plums he'd brought, and pointed out areas of interest along the way - monestery, etc., and arranged to meet with us the next day when he'd give us a tour. We met with him and his friend and they escorted us to Schönbrunn Palace, Karlskirche, St. Stephen's, the Opera, and Demel coffeehouse.

When we got back to our car it was blocked in by another car, so the two guys lifted the other car up and moved it. It was a wonderful experience.

[last_texas_dem]

97. Sort of, a couple of times

A few years ago, I was stopped at a light when a guy came up to me and knocked on the window. He asked me if I could drive him a few blocks across town to his house. His car had been broken down for a few days and he had been having to walk to work. It was after midnight, so it just seemed like the right thing to do. The guy was nothing but nice, although I'm not sure if it was the right thing to do since I had my girlfriend with me at the time. Also, a month or so ago, I gave a "drag rat" here in Austin a ride to a store to go buy concert tickets. He was nothing but nice, too. He was both drunk and stoned at the time I was driving him, but he told me some interesting stories and as cool to talk to. I'm not sure if either of those count as hitch-hiking stories, since neither of them were standing there with their thumbs out and both just involved driving across town, but they're the closest I get.

As for myself, there is only one time I can think of where I got a ride from a stranger. I was in about eighth grade, camping at our old cabin with my family. We were about five miles from the cabin when my aunt's old van broke down on the side of the road, pretty much out in the country. My dad and aunt sent my cousin and I back to the cabin to get our neighbors at a nearby cabin to drive out and help us, so we started running. About halfway there, a guy in a car saw my cousin and me running and offered us a ride back to the cabin. Everything went fine and I was very relieved he stopped for us, as I wasn't looking forward all that much to the two or three miles we had left to run!

[Downtown Hound]

98. Two of them

One was a relatively nice guy but the thing was, he wanted to be my best friend and basically hang out with me all day, and I didn't want that. I finally concocted an excuse to get rid of him.

The other was a woman who after 10 seconds wanted to have sex with me, which on the surface sounds good but there was no telling where this woman had been. She was clearly mentally unstable, (and no, not just because she wanted to have sex with me, okay) but also hadn't showered in quite some time. I got rid of her as soon as possible. SInce then, no hitchhikers for me. Why can't they all be cute Swedish blondes like they are in the movies?

[YDogg]

102. I knew a couple of guys who routinely hitched across country every summer ...

for 3-4 years in the early 80s, and swore by it. I never had the nerve. Too many odd stories for me to be comfortable hitching or giving rides.

[Breeze54]

104. Yes, many times and lived to tell the tales!

:P

But I've only picked up one hitchhiker by myself. It was a really stupid thing to do,
in hindsight, but so is everything in youth! He was cool but I started freaking out and
dumped him at the next rest area, as soon as I came to my senses. Freaked myself out
on that one! He probably freaked out too, when my van was missing from the parking lot.
He was a nice guy and a gentleman though and cute! :P Just to damned handsome! ;)

[idgiehkt]

107. only someone who'd had a wreck

and he wasn't exactly hitchhiking. There was a wreck on the road above my road, and he'd run off the road when he got distracted looking at it. So I offered him a ride to his house. I normally wouldn't but it was Christmas. :hi:

[NaturalHigh]

108. It's been a long time.

The last guy I picked up immediately went on a rant about how he was going to go to Kansas City to file a federal lawsuit against his brother. I've forgotten the specifics, but he was a nut.

[militaryspouse]

109. ..

I have picked up 3 HH and still live to tell about it. Thank God I bypassed the murdering kind. We really are dumb when we are in our 20's lol

[NaturalHigh]

110. Lol...

I think I was 33 at the time.