# Do you ever pick up hitchhikers?



## Linda (Aug 20, 2015)

We all know it's not safe, but do you sometimes pick up hitchhikers?  If so how do you decide when to stop and offer a ride or to just look straight ahead and go on by?


----------



## Mrs. Robinson (Aug 20, 2015)

Never. And I`m not somebody who`s afraid of or distrustful of every little thing,but I`m not crazy either...


----------



## Raven (Aug 20, 2015)

No we never pick up hitchhikers anymore.  Twenty or more years ago we did,
especially women but now they can pull a knife as quick as a male.
It's just not safe!


----------



## Grumpy Ol' Man (Aug 20, 2015)

Probably one of the statements that makes us wonder what has happened to the society in which we live.  Anyone who would pick up a hitchhiker today may well be signing their own death warrant.  I drive 30,000 miles + every year.  There is no way I'd stop to pick up ANYONE!!  As someone else said, cell phones can alert law enforcement if you think someone needs checked on.


----------



## Butterfly (Aug 20, 2015)

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER!!!  I do not have a death wish.


----------



## Ruthanne (Aug 20, 2015)

I was a hitch hiker for many years.  Most people who gave me a ride said they did because they were afraid of some nuts picking me up.  Only one guy was disrespectful towards me.  He grabbed a part of my body and I jumped out and ran.  I don't hitch hike anymore.  Too many psychos could pick me up!


----------



## Kitties (Aug 20, 2015)

That's a very kind story applecruncher. Thanks for sharing it.

I have to say I don't even want to give a ride to an acquaintance.


----------



## Shalimar (Aug 20, 2015)

Sadly, the nutters have always been with us. It just wasn't publicised.


----------



## applecruncher (Aug 20, 2015)

Kitties said:


> That's a very kind story applecruncher. Thanks for sharing it.
> 
> I have to say I don't even want to give a ride to an acquaintance.



Thanks, Kitties. My mother was just that way.  The woman offered mom a couple dollars, but of course mom refused to take it. Also, meant to mention the woman and her kids were dressed up, and she had on a dress and heels! (This was in 1965), but walking in a remote country road with 2 kids and a large brown paper bag, going to visit husband in prison. It was kind of sad.  As I think back, it was like a movie scene. I hope when the man got out that he treated his little family well.


----------



## Glinda (Aug 20, 2015)

I would never pick one up - but it's been years since I've even seen someone hitchhiking.


----------



## Ameriscot (Aug 21, 2015)

Never!


----------



## chic (Aug 21, 2015)

I used to hitch a lot with my friends when I was a teenager. I was lucky to grow up but this was in the '70's and it seemed safer somehow. 

I rarely see anyone hitching anymore except the occasional traveler on the highway but I wouldn't pick anyone up. Even neighbors' teenage kids have cars of their own these days. I envision every hitcher as a potential serial killer and I'm too scared ( and smart?) to be kind.


----------



## Ralphy1 (Aug 21, 2015)

Not even if you saw me with my thumb out heading to the Bromance?


----------



## Bullie76 (Aug 21, 2015)

Glinda said:


> I would never pick one up - but it's been years since I've even seen someone hitchhiking.



It is rare. But every now and then will I see what appears to be a homeless person with a thumb in the air. I have never picked up anyone.


----------



## SeaBreeze (Aug 21, 2015)

I hitchhiked a few times as a teen, without the knowledge of my mother of course  and looking back, I was lucky nothing bad ever happened.  One guy tried to get too 'friendly' with me, and I got angry and demanded he pull over and let me out immediately, which he did.

I used to pick up hitchhikers when I was younger too, and a couple of times on the way to work when it was still dark out in the morning, I'd see someone on the side of the street needing a jump, and I'd quickly pull over, get out my cables and help them.

A long time ago, after hearing some disturbing stories on the news, my husband made me promise never to pick up a hitchhiker or help a stranger on the side of the road.  I made the promise and kept it.  Very true, things were a lot different when we were young, seemed like a more relaxed and friendlier time.


----------



## Robusta (Aug 21, 2015)

I do fairly often. I must qualify the answer though.  I live in an extremely rural area,there are three guys and one woman that hitchhike back and forth to their work.  I know them only from seeing them on the road every day,so I do help them out with out qualm.


----------



## Mrs. Robinson (Aug 21, 2015)

Some of these stories reminded me of an incident back in,oh,probably 1969-70. Hubby went out with his National Guard buddies after their weekend meeting and had a few beers too many. He was 21 at the time,I was 19. I was mad that he had driven home after drinking and made plans to go to a friend`s house for the evening. He went to take a shower and I put his car keys in the freezer and left with our then 1 yo. He knew where I had gone,so he decided to hitch hike to come ask me to come home. He always hated when I got mad at him lol. Still does. Anyway,I was about 20 miles away and he got picked up by a guy who was willing to take him that far. They made small talk for a while,then the guy asked him to do something "inappropriate" to him. Hubby said "oh,here`s where I`m going-drop me off here." Luckily for him,he did. Last time he ever hitchhiked!


----------



## Linda (Aug 21, 2015)

Mrs. Robinson, I'm glad your husband made it out of that ride OK.  That could have turned pretty ugly.    Most of the people we pick up we already know.    From where we live in the mountains there are only 2 windy narrow roads to get down to the flatlands.  People run out of gas or have car trouble every once in awhile.  Cell phones don't work up here, or ours don't anyway.  In this weather we always carry an ice chest with bottled water in case any one needs it.  (We drink it too   We've only picked up one person who I would call an unsavory person.  After that our kids got pretty mad so I told my husband we better be careful as they are the people who might want to put us in a nursing home someday.


----------



## Citygirl (Sep 15, 2016)

Never even think of it any more. It used to be safe but those days are long gone.


----------



## Bonzo (Sep 15, 2016)

The best way to piss of a hitchhiker 
stop and pick em up then do a u turn


----------



## Carla (Sep 15, 2016)

I haven't seen one in years but I would not ever consider picking up a stranger.


----------



## Bobw235 (Sep 15, 2016)

Mrs. Robinson said:


> They made small talk for a while,then the guy asked him to do something "inappropriate" to him. Hubby said "oh,here`s where I`m going-drop me off here." Luckily for him,he did. Last time he ever hitchhiked!



This brings back an scary memory for me. I was 16 and living in NH at the time, working at an ice cream parlor in Concord, which was about 8 miles from my home. I didn't have access to a car and thus had to hitchhike from time to time. One night in early spring, I had to hitch a ride home. The guy who picked me up demanded oral sex about a mile after I got into the car. I was so scared, but refused his offer of a ride with those conditions, so he pulled over on a dark road and ordered me out. He pulled a quick U-turn and I stood there shaking in the middle of nowhere. This was before the days of cell phones, so after a few minutes I figured the only way to get home was either to go to a house (this was a rural road) or get another ride. I gathered up the courage to flag down a ride and a kind gentleman, a chauffeur driving a limo who had just dropped off some rich kid at nearby St. Paul's private school, pulled over and gave me a ride right to my door. I was shaking. After that I traveled with a knife if I knew I had to hitch a ride.

In my first couple of years in college (early 70s) I hitched long distance between Boston and New Jersey. Never had a problem but was always on guard and had protection just in case.

Can't remember the last time I picked up a hitchhiker, but wouldn't do so these days. A few years ago on a bitter cold winter night I had gone for massage on my shoulder following surgery. I got into my car and a young woman approached my window begging for a ride "just a few miles" up the road. We were in the middle of the business district, but our town has had its share of drug problems/addicts in that area. I hated to turn her down, but it was dark and I had visions of just what could go wrong had I opened my door to her. I directed her to the nearby police station which was just a block away.


----------



## ronaldj (Sep 15, 2016)

years ago, no more


----------



## debbie in seattle (Sep 15, 2016)

Hell no!


----------



## jujube (Sep 15, 2016)

When I was in high school, my best friend and I were dating boys who had joined the Navy and were stationed in Norfolk, VA.  They would hitchhike home (in uniform) to our Midwest city every chance they got, sometimes together if they were lucky and sometimes they had to split up.  They'd roll into town and we'd go pick them up from where ever they were dropped off.  Poor guys would have about 24 hours in town and then have to hitch back to Norfolk.  I was always grateful for the kindness of the strangers who picked them up.

She's still married to her sailor, 51 years later.  I don't know where mine ended up.  

The last time I had hitchhikers was about 15 years ago.  I was out on a business call and had stopped in a turnpike service plaza on my way back to the office.  There was an older couple whose car had broken down and had been towed to a local dealership.  They were waiting for their daughter to get off work at 5:00 and then come to get them (about an hour's drive).  It was about 2:00 p.m. and they  looked pretty tired.  I found out that their daughter's office was less than a mile from mine, so I offered them a ride.  I was driving a company van and there was only one  passenger seat but the husband was quite grateful to sit on some boxes in the back of the van.  It was an interesting drive.  It turned out that the husband was a retired Episcopal priest and the wife was formerly a Roman Catholic nun, who had actually lived in the convent where my late sister-in-law had been a novice.  Small world.


----------



## maggiemae (Sep 15, 2016)

Never...not in today's world!


----------



## fureverywhere (Sep 15, 2016)

Yehoots, I was just thinking of this tonight. A ridiculously long walk...long story but I should have known better. I'm talking maybe seven miles WOOOOF. Seriously in the dark in a high traffic area. I just made sure I stayed in view of the road. Something stupid like passing out and I want someone to see my body before morning. 

But when we lived in small town PA ten years back strangers would stop and ask if you needed a ride. As a teen I hitchhiked daily. I know I was just very lucky, but it was still different in those days. Here there is way too much crime and people would never stop. Even the police, if they stopped every pedestrian they'd have to get a bus. You have to be full down on the pavement for anyone to stop...if you're lucky.


----------



## Bobw235 (Sep 15, 2016)

Last year my wife and I were up in Kennebunkport, ME. It's a pretty little seaside town and home to George HW Bush. We parked the car and walked along the water for a ways to see his house and on the way back passed a man and his wife who had walked from town. Now we're talking a good 3 miles or so. The man was hurting; you could see he was in pain. As we passed them we said hello and they asked how far it was to where you could see the house. They told us how far they'd walked, so we offered to pick them up on our way back into town. They were so grateful. He had had hip replacement surgery and had no idea how far they'd walked. He was dreading the walk back. It was clearly too much. The kept thanking us, but it was just a kind gesture and the right thing to do. Felt good to do something nice for someone in need.


----------



## Manatee (Sep 15, 2016)

In my working years I was a road warrior, drove about 40,000 miles a year.  I would see young men on the side of the road thumbing a ride.  Some of them would have no shirt on and be as sweaty as could be.  I would never want someone like that in my car.

I never pick up anyone.


----------



## fureverywhere (Sep 16, 2016)

Oh back in the day you'd get rides like "Yeah mahn no problem, we know what it's like not to have a ride"...<<<inhale>>>" Yeah mahn no problem at all wherever you gotta go, here pass this to the back teehee, have you heard the new Cheech and Chong mahn? Wowwww


----------



## SeaBreeze (Sep 22, 2016)

I mentioned to my husband recently that when I was out food shopping I saw an older man with a cane hitchhiking and felt sorry for him, years ago I would have given him a ride.  But I promised my husband a long time ago I wouldn't give anyone rides anymore when I was alone, and that's probably the wise thing to do nowadays.  This 71 year old gal gave three teens a ride and was assaulted, ended up in the hospital and may have died if someone hadn't called for help.  Her really big mistake was inviting them to her house for food, etc.  http://kdvr.com/2016/09/21/teen-accused-of-attacking-71-year-old-woman-identified/


----------



## debodun (Sep 22, 2016)

It's illegal here to hitchhike or to pick up a hitchhiker. My cousin does it all the time, though.


----------



## Lynk (Sep 22, 2016)

No, I have never picked up a hitchhiker.


----------



## muffin (Sep 22, 2016)

No never, a silly thing to do these days


----------



## Buckeye (Oct 22, 2016)

Hitch hiking is very common here on the Big Island.  I've picked up about 6 or so in the last year. Never had a problem.  It's the Aloha thing to do.


----------

