Hitchhiking & You?

[Cheezy the Wiz]

If you do decide to hitchike, make damn well sure you bring a towel.

 

[col]

col: I'm feeling that multi-replay story. Sheesh! What did you say in reply to her question....."to my nan's house please, she lives on the High Street in Greater Sodbury, just past the bakery"?

....

Not sure about you guys, but I was brought up to offer extra kindness and hospitality to travellers. Be they pilgrims, refugees, migrants, people seeking something....'tis a very old and worthy tradition imo. Hitchhiking is just one part of that.

Must be a mind reader. My actual words were

"Can you drop me off at the bakery?"

I still pick up hitchhikers. I picked up a couple of Russian girls last year who were near York and wanted to see Scarborough Castle. It was fun.

 

[Bozo Erectus]

Well, IMO, theres a good reason why we tell kids not to get into cars with strangers.

 

[Rambuchan]

What? They end up getting to see Scarborough Castle? Granted, it's not quite the Taj Mahal, but honestly, it ain't that bad!

col: I simply laid out the lamest line I could think of at the time of posting. Sorry to hear your destination evaporated the famed wit and charm quite so drastically. You may have had 30 years to replay the scene but already I've begun thinking of smutty bakery puns....

 

[toxicseagull]

yeh becouse those people are targetting kids. thats different, they pull up and offer something to the kid, its not asking for a lift.

its no more dangerous than getting a bus. anyone on that bus could kill you. if you are walking down the road, any car may hit you. if you worry about such things your daft. just be sensible and be a bit streetwise and your'll be fine. the same applys to life.

LOL@ at cheezy, hitchikers, you cant beat those books.

 

[col]

You may have had 30 years to replay the scene but already I've begun thinking of smutty bakery puns....

yeah. Fancy a roll or a crusty cob.
Dont mention French sticks.

Happened on the road from Sussex Uni to Rottingdean.
But I was young then and not so wise in the ways of thw world.

Of course there are dangers hitchhiking and you need to be careful. Biggest danger in getting into the car of a really bad driver - and I've done that.
Next time he came I hid rather than stick my thumb out.

Red Ferrari never came by again.

 

[Bozo Erectus]

yeh becouse those people are targetting kids. thats different, they pull up and offer something to the kid, its not asking for a lift.

Kids arent the only people targeted by predators

its no more dangerous than getting a bus. anyone on that bus could kill you. if you are walking down the road, any car may hit you. if you worry about such things your daft. just be sensible and be a bit streetwise and your'll be fine. the same applys to life.

Funny, to me 'streetwise' means you dont get into cars with strangers.


Clearly, we cant expect kids to understand that you shouldnt get into cars with strangers, if apparently most adults cant figure it out either.

 

[col]

Its a judgement call that will very from person to person and place to place. I wouldnt recommend that women hitch on their own - but I know several that have done without consequences. Yes - there are risks - but at least in Europe there has long been a tradition and culture of students - and servicemen and women - hitching from place to place. Balancing risk means not assuming that every other person is a rapist or murderer.

I dont find it helpful to apply the same rules to adult behaviour that I would to children.

 

[RameNoodle]

If you do decide to hitchike, make damn well sure you bring a towel.

But of course! And the biggest no-no? DON'T PANIC! Ah, I could go on....

Still, I would never hitchhike. Call a cab. Walk. Whatever. I just don't trust people, for no real reason, really. Except for the fact that its Chicago, and...

 

[toxicseagull]

your homicide rates are terrible

its down to culture differences and commen sense, as said, if i was a female. no i wouldnt, if i was a male, sure. if i was female with a friend. sure. personally it sounds like your a bit to parinoid, nothing to do with sense and logic, as i said, other everyday risks are much much more dangerous, but you do them no? walking? driving a car? eating a burger? the chances of anything happening are extreamly slim.

especially if you speak the language and your travelling in a friendly country.

 

[Pyrite]

3 years ago, I decided to go on a marvelous adventure of train hopping and hitch hiking. I decided that A) I was going to ride a train to new orleans, which I didn't the whole way, heh. and then sleep their for a week. And B) I was going to somehow (any means necessary) see the desert in Arizona. I had extremely positive experiences, such as after getting a ride through PA to allentown (where there is a train connection that I needed to take southwards.) and then being offered a place to stay the night by the driver. (who picked up 3 punk looking kids and looked and acted harmless) It was great. He made us dinner, and made us tell him our schemes for self liberation. I never caught any bad vibes from him, and we just pitched our tents on his deck.

The worst experience was in louisiana when I was trying to get out of Nola and into baton rouge by car (terrible, terrible rains and I was cold) and I got in the car with these really racist and intimidating people. I had no idea what they were gonna do, but after I got out of the city proper I asked if they could drop me off at a mall (clearview for you new orleanians!) and I stayed the night there.

Traveling is the best experience of my life. It's an adventure.

 

[RameNoodle]

Actually, they're going down. We were down to the number eleven city in the U.S. as far as homicide rates go, in 2004. I still wouldn't trust someone else to drive me. I guess that I just have this irking feeling that something bad could happen, and its better to avoid the confrontation than to have to get out of it when it arises.

 

[Golf3r]

well, here in the USA, if I picked up a hitchhiker id be:

A) Shot
B) Robbed
C) Carjacked
D) Dead

so it is something that id never do. Plus, no one even hitchhikes in ohio. Most of us americans are car-hungry bastards and always find ways to get our hands on one (see above list ). plus, id never even go anyware without the means to call 911 or drive myself. Gotta play it safe, people arent as nice here as i'd like them to be.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

well, here in the USA, if I picked up a hitchhiker id be:

A) Shot
B) Robbed
C) Carjacked
D) Dead

Don't you just love America?

 

[CaptainF]

Don't you just love America?

I never thought I'd see the day that you would say something unpatriotic.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

I never thought I'd see the day that you would say something unpatriotic.

I never tried to say that everyone in Amierca was little miss perfect. We have these sort of folk in every society, America is no exception. Why should I be proud of those who would slay and take advantage of their fellow countrymen? I have no respect for them, but they are still Americans, and I would still fight for them.

 

[G-Man]

I hitchhike a lot, though I try to avoid it as much as possible lately in areas I don't feel safe in. Hitchhiking is common in my area, since most places are small towns and villages that don't have public transportation going into them. I, for example, must either hitchhike to the main road near by or walk there by myself (which is abour 1hr walk) in order to catch a bus. Since I use it so often I also pick up hitchhikers whenever I can. I don't think having a hitchhiker sitting next to you in your car should be more dangerous than having someone sitting next to you in a bus, and in my area it really isn't.

 

[Squonk]

I did hitchike (with my friends) on my way from Krak des Chevaliers to Tartus in Syria.
Also, I did hitch-hike on my own from Mukawir castle to Madaba in Jordan, but I gave the driver a bit money.
In Bitlis and in Konya, Turkey, and in Garablus (syrian-turkish boarder) people offered me to take me where I was going themselves for free, but I don't know if I can call that hitch-hiking. Also I got a free ride from nice Irish tourists from Hosap castle through Cavustepe to Van, Turkey (Kurdistan).

 

[CaptainF]

Anyone who hitchhikes in the USA nowadays is in my opinion a moron of the worst order.

They deserve to be shot/stabbed to the point of severe injury, or robbed of everything on them, including their clothing.

 

[Narz]

Anyone who hitchhikes in the USA nowadays is in my opinion a moron of the worst order.

They deserve to be shot/stabbed to the point of severe injury, or robbed of everything on them, including their clothing.

That's quite a passionate statement, why exactally do you feel that way?