Hitchiking?

[Capetan Mihali]

I've never hitched to my memory... maybe some dinky shit on one of those islands in the harbor of Portland, Me.

But I have picked up hitchers a number of times.  Usually it is just a sad sack caught in a rainstorm who I can expedite a mile and a half to the shopping center or town.  Oh, I also did a little free-for-all cabbying during the Phila. transit strike when I had a car but no job, just cruised the main El and bus routes at peak hours for a few bucks each; very safe and sedate working people.

One in Vermont was real drunk, fresh out of the joint, and on his way to present an ultimatum to his ex-girlfriend ('leave with me for Georgia or I will kill myself') at the sleazy motel where she was lodging.   We had a nice 45-minute talk therapy session (C. Mihali, J.D., M.S.W. ) about not getting fixated on the idealized past and not using her as a crutch to avoid self-actualization, before I left him in the Michael's parking lot with a Diet Dr. Pepper, my best regards, and a $175 bill for my psychoanalytic services.  Didn't read about any murder or suicide the next day, so all's well that ends well.

[Monoriu]

Hitchiking doesn't exist in Hong Kong. 

Elsewhere, my policy is never.  I never pick up those people.  I was also offered a ride by complete strangers on occasions (like when I failed to catch a departing bus in Vancouver).  I always refuse. 

[mongers]

I've never hitched to my memory... maybe some dinky shit on one of those islands in the harbor of Portland, Me.

But I have picked up hitchers a number of times.  Usually it is just a sad sack caught in a rainstorm who I can expedite a mile and a half to the shopping center or town.  Oh, I also did a little free-for-all cabbying during the Phila. transit strike when I had a car but no job, just cruised the main El and bus routes at peak hours for a few bucks each; very safe and sedate working people.

One in Vermont was real drunk, fresh out of the joint, and on his way to present an ultimatum to his ex-girlfriend ('leave with me for Georgia or I will kill myself') at the sleazy motel where she was lodging.   We had a nice 45-minute talk therapy session (C. Mihali, J.D., M.S.W. ) about not getting fixated on the idealized past and not using her as a crutch to avoid self-actualization, before I left him in the Michael's parking lot with a Diet Dr. Pepper, my best regards, and a $175 bill for my psychoanalytic services.  Didn't read about any murder or suicide the next day, so all's well that ends well.

So what do you think are the pros and cons of hitch-hiking?

[garbon]

No. There was a hot guy that I almost picked up once. I say almost because I couldn't figure out what he was doing until I was already many yards further down the road.

[CountDeMoney]

I used to give hottie defendants rides home from detention centers out in the sticks if they agreed to...stuff.  But hitchiking?  Too many sex weirdos out there, man.

[Ed Anger]

I used to give hottie defendants rides home from detention centers out in the sticks if they agreed to...stuff.  But hitchiking?  Too many sex weirdos out there, man.

It's like a scene out of Bad Lieutenant.

[garbon]

But hitchiking?  Too many sex weirdos out there, man.

Pot, kettle?

[CountDeMoney]

But hitchiking?  Too many sex weirdos out there, man.

Pot, kettle?

Hey, those breasts weren't going to get home by themselves, you know.

[PRC]

Used to hitchhike all the time on Vancouver Island.  Up and down the island as a highschooler and adult.  Have hitched in various places across Canada over the years as well.  Don't really do it anymore but it was a good way to get around back in the day.

[garbon]

But hitchiking?  Too many sex weirdos out there, man.

Pot, kettle?

Hey, those breasts weren't going to get home by themselves, you know.

I have no idea what breasts will do or not do.

[Eddie Teach]

I say almost because I couldn't figure out what he was doing until I was already many yards further down the road.

A lot easier(mentally) to stop for someone ahead of you than to stop and turn around or back up. The one time I picked up a hitcher it was on the on-ramp.

[Capetan Mihali]

So what do you think are the pros and cons of hitch-hiking?

If we (in the US) lived in a society that 1) wasn't prone to a relatively high amount random violence, and more importantly 2) wasn't prone to hysterical overreaction to perceived threats, I think the pros of hitchiking would be too numerous to be worth counting.

As is, the pros are mainly helping somebody out of a pretty serious jam when there's no public transportation available, and meeting some interesting characters.  The cons of course are the specter of danger (even if it isn't backed out) or getting the hard-sell to take someone somewhere out of the way and parting on bad terms, or like my drunk guy, getting peripherally involved in a sad, unpleasant, and possibly violent situation.

The pros and cons of actually hitchiking, I don't know.  Free or very cheap.  Gets you the 1.5 miles to the supermarket in a dry 7 minutes rather than a wet 20.  Meet somewhat less interesting people than the other way around.  Hard to get a ride if you're a male-female couple

[CountDeMoney]

Hard to get a ride if you're a male-female couple

lol, depends on which side of the equation you're on.

[Ideologue]

I've never hitched to my memory... maybe some dinky shit on one of those islands in the harbor of Portland, Me.

But I have picked up hitchers a number of times.  Usually it is just a sad sack caught in a rainstorm who I can expedite a mile and a half to the shopping center or town.  Oh, I also did a little free-for-all cabbying during the Phila. transit strike when I had a car but no job, just cruised the main El and bus routes at peak hours for a few bucks each; very safe and sedate working people.

So you scabbed and violated the law?

One in Vermont was real drunk, fresh out of the joint, and on his way to present an ultimatum to his ex-girlfriend ('leave with me for Georgia or I will kill myself') at the sleazy motel where she was lodging.   We had a nice 45-minute talk therapy session (C. Mihali, J.D., M.S.W. ) about not getting fixated on the idealized past and not using her as a crutch to avoid self-actualization, before I left him in the Michael's parking lot with a Diet Dr. Pepper, my best regards, and a $175 bill for my psychoanalytic services.  Didn't read about any murder or suicide the next day, so all's well that ends well.

But hanks for the soda, man.

[Ideologue]

Anyway, I pick up folks from time to time.  I took a homeless guy a couple miles to the bus station a year or so ago.  I frisked him first.

I've never taken anybody particularly far.  I think the most was 20 miles down highway 25.  He didn't look like Rutger Hauer.