I used to regularly give lifts to hitchhikers. Until that is I picked up a guy in the middle of nowhere, who looked decent , but who stank of drink and became slightly *threatening* on wanting me to go slightly out of my way to drop him off.
I thought of stopping and forcing him out of the car if neccessary ( which would have been no problem for me physically)
But I thought of the possibility of him locking himself in and damaging the interior of the car, while I went around to the passenger side to drag him out.
Thought better of it and drove 5 minutes out of my way, last time for a hitchhiker though.........
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Once gave a lift to a guy who stank of drink, but more importantly, of stale urine. Seemed to us like he had obviously soiled himself more than once. Drove 5 or 6 miles at high speed with every window open. Was on the point of pulling over and asking him to get out when the town came into view. Let him off there and drove another half an hour to fumigate the car before the stench had completely disappeared. Oh well, you win some you lose some.
During the summer I gave a lift to what turned out to be a couple of French backpackers on their way to the coast. At first I was going to drop them at the junction from the main road where I would have turned for home, but the thought occurred to me that I might take the other half out for dinner in the same town the pair were heading for. As her phone wasn't working, I said I would detour via the house, pick her up and continue on our way. However, when we got there she wasn't home from work yet, so I offered them a drink while we waited. She ended up delayed and a bit late for going out, so rather than take the hitchers back out to the main road at a time when traffic volume was much diminished, I offered them a bed for the night and a (much needed) shower! We ended up having a grand evening's entertainment - threw a bit of food together, cracked open a couple of bottles of (Chilean) wine, talked and played music. Next day I ran them up to where they were headed and said cheerio. A great night was had by all.
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andymc
Vroom, vroom - mmm, doughnuts ...
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"outskirts of Paris (wasn't that city an absolute git to try and hitch back out of !)
Yes! But I do remember arriving in Paris once having hitched from South of France and I had completely run out of money except for a half crown coin (2/6d or 12p now) and hitching home from there to Scarborough. When I arrived in Scarborough I still had the half crown, had a couple of pints (those were the days!!) and rang my Dad to come and collect me from the pub - a 4d bus ride from home!
As an impoverished schoolboy/student used to hich hike everywhere during '60s/ early '70s - most frightening was a lift in a truck from Scotch Corner to Penrith with driver who kept dropping off to sleep - seem to remember Peter Stuyvesant fags I offered him kept him awake. Packet or two of fags to offer seemed to be only reward drivers needed - couldn't count the number of fry-ups obtained for free in exchange for a fag or two and a bit of converstaion ( and a lovely meal at The Bell at Barmby Moor). What would people think these days of a hitcher being offered a free meal by a driver? Never gave it a thought then - but then I never gave a thought to having to spend a night or two sleeping in a haystack next to the road until dawn enabled drivers to see you and stop - especially at Bramham crossroads on the A1 - or Norman Cross. And there was always a queue of hitchers at Apex Corner!
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Phil
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Just remembered the occasion a few years ago when a pal & I were offered a lift when we were not even hitching! A 'boys' walking w/end in the Lakes from Borrowdale over Gable & Kirk Fell in time for a quick lunchtime drink at the Wasdale Head Inn. We left at 7pm very unsteady on our feet to walk down the road to Wasdale YH (about 5 miles) and had barely gone 100yards when a lovely couple in a spanking new Range Rover stopped to offer us a lift in the pouring rain. My pal slumped against the RR and I shlurred my '' thanks but no thanks'' as we needed that 5 mile walk to sober up. Lucky escape for them as I would hate to offer a lift then find out they were in our condition!
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Back in National Service days, a pal and I got a lift from Warwick to Newbury. Driver was a submariner and he and wife had just returned from a tour in Malta. All the journey consisted of her telling us how they had cleverly smuggled all sorts of stuff back from Malta. When we were about to get out at Newbury, I felt obliged to tell her, truthfully, that we were only National Service and in civvy life my pal was a Customs Officer. I still remember the look on her face.
BigE
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Do you all still do this?
I would never either pick any one up or hitch a lift...am I too sensible?
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I've never hitched in the UK, but in Canada it was still a normal thing to do ten years ago. I don't think I travelled from Banff to Calgary any other way in the 6 months I was there.
Two memorable occasions - one guy who didn't drop below 180 kph all the way - was quite exciting when the traffic got a bit heavier. The other was getting a lift down to Lake Louise in a hearse owned by three surfer types on a tour of the mountains. Apparently the boards went in the back very nicely!
I picked up a couple of commercial drivers in the middle of the summer heatwave, but other than that I rarely pick up nowadays. Bad experience with a young guy who absolutely stank. I had to make my excuses and get rid of him.
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I used to hitch a lot when younger, parents didn't give lifts.
I had a very fast ride on a honda 250 - without a crash helmet, or goggles :-(
I thought I'd never get a lift carrying my air rifle (in a gun case), but actually got one without a problem. The vast majority of people were very pleasant. I think I've met weirder people on the bus or train.
I used to give hitch-hikers lifts, sometimes going out of my way - but you don't see them so much now, and I'm not so sure I'd stop. It's not an option on the bike !
Again, the people I've given a lift to have usually been very pleasant.
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Of course helmets and goggles used to be optional on motor bikes. I had two memorable lifts on bikes, one when hitching, somewhere between Slough and Reading, Vincent Black Prince (I think), last of the big Vincent V-twins, with partly enclosed body fairing... the driver didn't go hugely fast but the sense of power in the thing was amazing. Another with a colleague when I was working as a building labourer in Somerset 1959ish with a lot of fellow concreters who were enthusiastic bikers. This one had a BSA Gold Star 500, vibrated appallingly but went like a bat out of hell, Radstock to Bath, 6 miles, in 4 and a half minutes... Don't believe it if you don't want to, I hardly did myself. That was definitely frightening.
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I still give people lifts, and hopefully always will - last person I gave a lift to was a week ago. Previous time was a couple of days before that, previous again was about a month ago. That time it was dark, and the hitcher turned out to be a teenage girl, which I wasn't comfortable with even though she was only going a few miles up the road. As a precaution, I apologetically said I needed to make a call, phoned my wife and stayed on the line with her until I dropped the girl off. That way at least I had a witness of sorts for the time she was in the car, in case she decided to cry wolf.
The thing to be aware of is that most people are basically alright. The chances of picking up a crazed murderer are actually pretty slim. You get to do someone a favour (I'm not in any way religious, but I think that to do something for nothing now and then is good for the soul), have a chat with a new person, occasionally get to really hit it off with them. A lot of the time conversations turn into "life, the universe and everything" and it's interesting to hear another person's world view, hear about their lives and aspirations and occasionally learn something.
However a woman driving on her own is more vulnerable in the sense that someone may wish to try it on when they think they have an opportunity. Even when I was looking for lifts rather than offering them, I used to advise any lone female drivers that picked me up not to give lifts to men on their own. Of course, I waited until they'd taken me as far as I could get before delivering this sincere and serious piece of advice. In your case PG I wouldn't offer a lift to anyone (except maybe a girl on her own, or me) while driving alone. But if your other half is in the car, and the hitcher isn't carrying a bottle in one hand and a sign saying "Anywhere" in the other, why not give it a try?
As for trying to hitch a lift myself, I don't think I would do it by choice in this country nowadays - people are less likely to stop than they were 10 or 15 years ago. However if a girl has a companion to visit somewhere like Canada, New Zealand, Australia etc then it could be a great way to have a backpacking holiday. At the risk of sounding a bit up myself, part of the experience is about simply being where you are, getting some time on your own, not just being underway. You mightn't spend much money but you will get to spend time. It can teach you something about yourself - a sense of acceptance, if nothing else!
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andymc
Vroom, vroom - mmm, doughnuts ...
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The only people I've ever picked up were a couple trying to get from Glasgow to Holyhead, they were quite pleased when I took the from Penrith to the M56!
Tip to anyone picking up hitchers, don't stop if you see this man www.imdb.com/name/nm0000442/
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About 2 months ago - passed someone in the middle of nowhere looking sadly at a pair of flat tyres on his Range Poser where he caught a rock on a country road. His phone didn't work so I gave him a lift to the nearest town.
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