Hitch-hikers....

[RedRobin]

The vote/poll assumes in all cases that the hitcher is thumbing where you can safely stop.

What prompts this thread is my latest 'pick-up-a-hitcher' experience. I used to hitch-hike a lot myself many moons ago.



On my way to Quality Dave's the other day I was in a 30 mph zone and spotted a young woman thumbing for a lift in a bus-stop layby.. She looked a bit rough but not tarty and gave direct eye-contact.. So I made the split-second decision, could stop easily and did stop. I then saw that a bloke was with her! Ooops! was my initial thought, especially as he looked a bit rough. I had stuff all over my back seat and said I only had one seat spare but they were so relieved I had stopped and offered to help me make space - They'd been thumbing for an hour and had one woman stop and then drive off laughing at them and another woman who stopped to shout abuse at them about why they could afford drugs but not the bus. They were naturally angry about this and said that although they drank a lot both had stopped drugs about seven years ago and they only smoked the weed occasionally now anyhow.

Before letting them in I found out where they were going - About 10 miles to the next town. I always find out their destination first.

They were extremely grateful and surprised I had stopped and were very impressed by the car. To my great surprise the young woman (early 30's?) knew quite a lot about cars - Her favourite is the Lancia Delta and she mentioned the Integrale! On one bend in the twisties the guy asked how on earth my car didn't skip across the road and she told him it was because the handling was well sorted and it wasn't all about power - I was impressed.

Conversation was lively and interesting and when I asked about their hitch-hiking they said they always had difficulty because they were well known and also to the local police. I'm well known to the local police too - But for quite different reasons! She said that he'd just come out of jail after 2 years inside. I wondered whether to ask what for but didn't want to risk him saying it was for car theft! I've spent plenty time with various people on both sides of the law and in fact one of my best London mates had to leave the UK in a bit of a hurry! So I'm not easily phased. I've also had a knife around my throat while in a car (I was a front seat passenger) but that's another story. I have lots of hitch-hiking stories to tell, both as a driver and a hitcher.



When I let them out they were seriously grateful and both shook my hand and he said that I'd be blessed for my kindness. I think they were a bit gobsmacked that I'd stopped - But, like he said, never judge a book by its cover. "Hey man! You're really cool, man! Really cool! Thanks!" were his parting words.

So, do you folks give lifts ever?

[neg]

very dangerous hobby to take up  

Saying that I have been tempted, depends on my mood and the look of them (not just a hotty  ).  Were strickly not allowed when I had company cars so never did then.  Sure I picked up someone once who was on a dangerous road with a petrol can - I could see the car too, dropped them off down the road.

[B3n]

Never picked up a hitchiker in my life, Picked up a few females from town on a sat night though But that aint the same.

Ive been tempted a few times but i never have. A few of my mates actualy went on a bit of a adventure to see how far they could go hitchiking i think they ended up in Romania Before they chickend out and flew home.

[Nasir]

You just can't in todays society.

[VC]

i used to, cornwall is full of hitchers trying to get from one end of the county to the other, stopped a few years ago after one nasty experience with someone who turned out to be a bit 'liquid' in the head, cue lots of threats and anger and that was me done.

ive hitched myself too, mainly in the states when i lived there as at the time i didnt own a car. One story i have is a party i went to with some mates ended up with us being in the middle of nowhere at a house and stupidly accepting a challenge of getting back to where we were staying via hitching only, it was the middle of the night, no mobiles and we were clueless where we were.

we didnt realise at the time it was nothing more than the yanks being haters to us english and wanting to see us in trouble as the others that decided to play they actually gave a lift home to as we later discovered! after a few hours we ended up finding a phone booth outside a closed shop and dialed the local sheriff. made up a story of how we'd accepted an invite to a party and then been dumped out there (a hitching challenge wouldnt have gone down well), luckily it wasnt too 'deliverance' and a police cruiser turned up, although we sat in the back (damn uncomfortable too) the cop took us the the next county where they transferred us to another squad car and then the same again until we were then finally back to the town we were staying in. If we hadnt been english i think we'd have been in alot of difficulty but the cops took pity and i believe wanted to restore faith in the good ole u s of a with us... something to this day i am grateful for. how many cops would do that now! certainly not the uk police

my time with hitchers and hitching is done. that wouldnt stop me helping someone in trouble though, thats something i always stop for.

ive even accepted a lift once from a van full of suspect looking blokes as i walked down a dual carraigeway at night, a very dangerous road and they told me to jump in the back as i might get knocked down, against my better judgement i agreed.... to find myself locked in the back of the vehicle and it was caged inside too with no windows! thankfully it was nothing more than paranoia and the door slid open once they got me to the end of the road!

crikey... i could go on for ages on this topic, so many tales....

[stealthwolf]

Ohhh!!! So that's why that woman had her hand out. I thought it strange she was flagging a bus down when I was the only one on the road (she looked 40+ and in no way was a milf before anyone says).

Honestly, I would get too paranoid about this kind of thing, so no. Maybe if I had a crap car or one I didn't care about, then maybe. But in my lovely, awesome, fast GTI.

[Nickyboy]

Only if it was someone I knew.

[RedRobin]

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So far, a big majority polling "Never ever" - Which is what I expected but hoped not to be the case.

I suppose that because I've done a lot of hitching, though a loooong time ago, I have a different perspective.

The vast majority of hitchers I've helped on their journey have been really interesting company and have expressed much gratitude and wished me well and really meant it, so I've ended up feeling very good.

There's one guy I have picked up several times and taken him over 200 miles to visit his sister. He has a speech impediment but we still manage to communicate. Haven't seen him this year so far.

[Hedge]

Never have and probably never will due to the state of the nation. 

[RedRobin]

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I don't think the state of the nation has changed so hugely - There always have been bad people out there as well as good ones. It's a sad day when everyone assumes that everyone else is out to screw you [hmm.. possibly unwise choice of word there given the present company].

It's probably riskier to hitch-hike than to pick up hitch-hikers.

I've found that my gut feeling and intuition can be relied upon so far in nearly 50 years.

[john_o]

always a risk these days , but if Im on my own I would consider it  (not with wife and child in car)

I remember stopping to give a guy a lift from the Carlisle services all the way to Glasgow one day in my M3 !
he almost choked when I stopped to offer a lift........

turned out he was fairly sound and we chatted all the way back up the road.

as you say its an assessment at the time based on many factors 

[RedRobin]

I remember stopping to give a guy a lift from the Carlisle services all the way to Glasgow one day in my M3 !
he almost choked when I stopped to offer a lift........

....I remember when I was thumbing a ride that any car which was half-tasty was always a huge bonus.

 

[vRS Carl]

As mentioned already. Dangerous pastime thats for sure.

It's not something i would do.

Not everyone is bad and i feel sorry for genuine hitchhikers who just want to get somewhere. But you just never can be to careful these days.

[Golfgirl]

I did a Jailbreak for charity last year.  This is where you get taken to a mystery location and have to find your way back to your starting point with no money.  We started off in Hereford and got dropped off in Paignton, so quite a long way really.  After blagging a train ride and taxi ride we found ourselves at Exeter services along with several other teams.  We managed to blag three lifts from there and got as far as Bridgwater services (Somerset).  Then we got stuck.  We just couldn't get any more lifts and it was getting on for 8pm (we'd left Hereford at 6am).  We ended up cheating and using a mobile to call a friend we knew who lived in Somerset and he came and picked us up and took us all the way back to Hereford, arriving there about midnight.  The event was over, the place was in darkness and they were just locking the gate.  Five minutes later and we wouldn't have been able to get the car out to get home.

Even though we were in the official Jailbreak t-shirts, wore Union Jack hats and explained to people what we were doing, hardly anybody was willing to give us a lift.  As we were a team of four it made it more difficult anyway as we could only fit in cars with one person in (we had to stay as a team).

If I saw people dressed up in fancy dress doing a similar event I may give them a lift because I now know how it feels.  However, I wouldn't pick up a random person that was just thumbing a lift.  You just never know who they are.

[RedRobin]

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Feelings such as "you never know who they are" and "you just can't in today's society" are totally understandable, but.. They are feelings of fear and negativity. I don't mean this unkindly and I'm not saying it's wrong to have such reservations or caution. I am asking why more people can't get past their prejudgements and trust their instincts and gut feelings.

You can suss people in milliseconds and be right 99%. We're programmed to do so and animals can suss even faster and better. We have animal senses too but society has knocked them out of many of us.