Picking Up Hitchhikers?

[SoulRaven]

I've picked up some dodgy looking guys who were walking in 110 degree heat. If for no other reason just to help my fellow man. I wouldn't do it if I had my Granddaughter in the car or truck. Most had no destination, just traveling. Buy 'em a meal and hope for the best.

 

[frater secessus]

Were not in the 60's and 70's anymore...It's a plain fact that there is a lot more possible danger out there than ever.

Violent crime rates have been going down for decades.  Overall violent crime is down to early 70s levels;  murder is down to early 60s levels.

Cable news is doing an excellent job of scaring the crap out of people.

 

[TrainChaser]

Odds don't mean anything if you're the One out of the Hundeds. If you're a person who can't judge people or don't/won't trust your instincts, don't pick up anyone.

I've picked up other women, and had no problems, but I certainly do pick and choose pretty carefully.

 

[mayble]

I would be most concerned about picking up bedbugs along with the hitchhiker.

 

[WalkaboutTed]

Mayble, 
That's pretty funny because the last time I picked up a hitch hiker a couple of decades ago, it was an ancient guy whose car broke down.  He left a couple body lice in the back seat.  
Ted

 

[[email protected]]

Nawww..... It's just  [font=Verdana, Arial]no ass, no gas, no grass, no ride  these days. "[/font][font=Verdana, Arial]Ain't Nothing Free"[/font][font=Verdana, Arial]- BIG SMO[/font][font=Verdana, Arial] Lyrics[/font]

Haven't seen that bumper sticker for ages. i think that the polite and reasonable thing to do is three-fold...

1. hold a sign (e.g. a erasable board) with destination and amount offered
2. be clean and decently-dressed
3. don't expect rides from unaccompanied females, especially of marriageble age

I do this more in Asia where I am an oddity. It was successful in North-eastern states of India, however being in the van with a pig about to be slaughtered and therefore relieving itself at both ends, was a situation I will avoid in future. In Malaysia a Malay soldier refused money. In Japan I traded unloading the truck of fish for a ride very far. I have been asked to drive by people on long distance trips who needed shut-eye too. However being older and with a Zee-Zee pop beard I suspect problems here and now.

 

[Fivealive]

If I am near the PCT or CDT and they have full backpacking gear I will pick them up, otherwise I keep on driving.

 

[RowanFae]

I've never picked up anyone thumbing a ride, but I will stop and ask people if they need a ride if I see them carrying a gas can or walking down a highway. My son's have blown many a gasket (figuratively speaking) when they found out. Apparently I should be dead on the side of the road by now.

There were some people, in town a few years back, who were jacking people who stopped to help them and beating them up before stealing their car. So, I admit that I backed off, since then, of stopping for people with broken down cars.

 

[LivGolden]

I do it but I was raised in Europe where, at least at the time, hitchhiking was a legitimate mode of transportation. As with everything, it is perspective. I am careful (?) though. 

 

[Fitter]

If I am near the PCT or CDT and they have full backpacking gear I will pick them up, otherwise I keep on driving.

Ditto , twice , Walker Pass into town.

No problems . Both times Europeans on vacation . It was nice to show a little hospitality .

 

[ChezCheese:-)]

Before he was executed, a reporter asked a serial killer if he had any advice for the public. He said: "Don't hitchhike or pick up hitchhikers -- that's how we got all our victims."

 

[Dingfelder]

Before picking them up, you need to look very carefully to see whether they have a hook for a hand.

Seriously though, I wouldn't. I'm a mellow, harmless-looking guy, and in my experience that brings out the predator very quickly in some people. That's why I had to take martial arts for many years. Too many people would look at me and think, well, why not?

Life is too risky to put your safety on the line too much, IMO. You only have to be wrong once, and you only need a normally good person to have one evil moment.

 

[USExplorer]

I've picked up at least two dozen hitchhikers all across the country. Most of them are fellow road trippers, thankful for a ride in this age of "stranger danger" and rampant paranoia. Yes, there are very few "normal" hitchhikers; the practice does not appeal to our culture of instant gratification.
There are morose old road warriors, moving out of necessity through dreary little towns, hardly saying a word.
There are bright and cheery adventurers, thru-hikers and travelers, who will often try to pay for gas or contribute in some other way.
There are natural hustlers who offer to gas jug, panhandle, and spange your way across the country. And entitled brats who treat you like a chauffeur. In all likelihood, they will try to push you a little, see what they can get out of you. Not a big deal. Draw a firm line, it is your vehicle and your rules. I get frustrated by their freeloading, entitled lifestyle, but they are not dangerous.

And then, the all-American obsession, the unicorn of criminals: the psycho hitchhiker. Clearly, the best way to victimize people would be to stand out in the weather for hours, looking kinda rough, and hold out your thumb, knowing automatically that you will draw the attention of police officers, and that a huge portion of the population has decided never to even consider giving you a ride.

I'm not saying you should pick up hitchhikers if you feel uncomfortable with the whole concept. Too many in our society don't have the discretion and common sense God gave a billy goat. They have no idea that the donuts and soda they just bought at the truck stop are more likely to kill them than the scruffy dude with the cardboard sign saying "Tucson". Go on through life with your blinds closed, doors locked, and mind closed.

Personally, I'd rather pick up the psycho hitchhiker than let him get picked up by some old hippie mama with a big heart. Same goes for the guy flagging me down at midnight for his broken down car on the roadside that needed a jump start. It's not about taking unknown risks and "hoping for the best"; it's about reading a situation and acting instinctively according to a fixed, black-and-white code of conduct. Hitchhikers may not like me but they trust me.

</rant>

 

[Dingfelder]

Bill Cosby's kid got killed for that. He's not the only one. I've read the story quite a few times in the Los Angeles area alone.

I might be a little more paranoid than some because of the Los Angeles thing. Carjackings were an everyday occurrence when I lived there.

Heck I remember one story where a guy's car broke down and he bought himself a six pack, had a beer open while pushing his car down the street. A guy walking by shot him for the beer.

I lived in a lot of areas, including high crime ones. I think a lot depends on your own personal experience in life. Just like your attitude in large part depends on yours, my attitude in large part depends on mine. Perhaps both are well-suited for the environments we have spent the most time in.

I can tell you what my friends thought of coming to visit me in one neighborhood I lived in for 10 years. They wouldn't. Tired of seeing cars broken into up and down the street, sometimes including theirs, three times including mine. Heck people even crawled over security gates to burglarize the cars.

I knew lots of people who lived in Beverly Hills. They thought L.A. was very safe and largely crime-free.