Do you ever pick up hitchhikers?

[denisenh]

i did today. i was alone (my kids weren't with me) and on the way home from grocery shopping after work.
it is SO hot out and the guy looked like a good person. no backback or anything. i honestly don't even know how i had the nerve to do it...i am seriously not the type, but so many folks are down on their luck and it seemed like the right thing to do.
he said that he was walking home from work to change and go to his second job. i was able to drop him at his house on my way home, so all ended well.

 

[Janepod]

No chance. No. Never. No.

 

[Jennasis]

No. I enjoy living.

 

[RadioNate]

Heavens no.

Just no.

 

[LuvsDragonflies]

No way. Are you nuts? You just used up a life there kiddo. Please don't do it again.

 

[JessicaR]

I havent seen a hitchhiker in years. I guess it would depend on circumstances if I would pick one up. I have in the past.

 

[XYSRUS]

Never! Times have changed. My brother hitchhiked to college every day. Everyday someone would pick him up, on the highway no less. I remember dropping him off on the entry ramp in the morning. Crazy when you think about it.

 

[dakcp2001]

Yes. Once I was in another country for a few months and this on night me and a friend were taking a road trip. 2 young college aged girls alone in another country. Young and stupid! We wanted to drive at night to have more beach time. It was 6 hours through the middle of nowhere. We were warned to fill up on gas as there are few places to stop and none open at night. About halfway there, in the dark, we saw a car on the side of the road with a tire broken off sideways. No one around. Your worst nightmare! Over an hour later, we saw this poor guy hoofing it looking pretty miserable, he was waving frantically at us. He rode with us all the way to our destination, shared a hotel room with us and we hung out all week. He and my friend are now married! So normally I would not pick up a hitchhiker, but there really was no way we could have left this poor guy on he road. He would have been walking for days. Lol.


For the record, it was pitch black and a very scary drive. I would never recommend anyone do it at night. We were in Central America. We are from the US , the hitchhiker was from Canada. They now live in California with 2 kids.

 

[capegirl]

Picking up hitchhikers is something my grandfather used to do on a regular basis, back in the day when you could do this and live to tell the tale. Unfortunately we no longer live in my grandfather's world; the person who you feel sorry for could very well be trouble. Don't take any chances by being the good samaritan. If you think someone is in need of assistance, please play it safe and call the police.

 

[Northstar]

I pick up hitchhikers occasionally on the main road I take every day to the city.

They're not exactly strangers... I mean, I see some of these people hitchhiking or walking on this road pretty often. Small town atmosphere.

I figure if I've seen you hitchhiking on this road for years, you're not going to pick today to run off the rails and murder someone.

Sure enough, whenever I pick someone up and we start to play that small-town game of "do you know so-and-so?", I usually discover that I know the hitchhiker's sister's best friend's music teacher. Or something like that.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

There is no way I would ever do that.

 

[wdwmom2]

Not me, but my parents, who NEVER picked up hitchhikers!!!

We were traveling across the country and was going to Yosemite. It was hot as Hades out. We passed a young man riding a bicycle, and then stopped at a small produce stand. He approached my dad and asked if he could get a ride to Yosemite. We loaded his bike into our mini motor-home and got on our way. I will never forget how terrified I was.

Turns out, he was a park ranger at Yosemite, and on his way to work. It was the 4th of July holiday and the campground there was full. This kind young man found us a great site.

That was the first, and last time that I have ever been involved with picking up a hitchhiker. Thank the good Lord it turned out very well!!!

 

[Pixiedust34]

As a general rule, no. It isn't safe IMHO.

However, there's an elderly lady who lives in the neighborhood and we see her walking frequently to the grocery store, to work (can't tell if it's a McDonalds or Chick-Fil-A uniform), etc. She's not a hitchhiker, but she is a stranger. I have pulled over to offer her a ride a couple of times. She declined.

 

[Sgt Mickey]

I have sorta. On base not hitchhikers but one time I saw a bunch of young airman at the shoppette and they had to get clear across the base in Alaska so I dropped them off. Another time someone ahd a flat tire and I tool them to buy a tire. SO I am not really someone would pick up a hitch hiker I have read to many scary thing.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Only when I need a new subject for my experiment.

 

[Imzadi]

i did today. i was alone (my kids weren't with me) and on the way home from grocery shopping after work.
it is SO hot out and the guy looked like a good person. no backback or anything. i honestly don't even know how i had the nerve to do it...i am seriously not the type, but so many folks are down on their luck and it seemed like the right thing to do.
he said that he was walking home from work to change and go to his second job. i was able to drop him at his house on my way home, so all ended well.

I'm sure the approximately 30 women Ted Bundy killed thought the exact same thing.

 

[ToddyLu]

I have. I once saw a man huffing it down a highway with a hard hat on and his small bag of lungh , or what ever...and I thought if I see that man on my way home tonight I am going to help him...well I passed him that afternoon turned around and picked him up. He didn't want to get my seat dirty after working all day. I told him not to worry about it..so I took him into to town and dropped him off at his apartment. Low and behold, I knew his sister from where I work.

I once picked up a kid outside of a CVS pharmacy. It was pouring down rain and he was waiting on a ride. He worked there. I took him home and we started talking--I live down the street from his Grandmother and see her outside all the time.

My mother is the worst for picking up hitch hickers. She was driving on Interstate 10 and saw a young man and his dog. She turned around at the next exit and drove back to pick him up--dog and all. Mama said it was one of the biggest dogs she had ever seen. His name was Scott and the dog was Saint. Anyway, he was leaving New Orleans. He was a "professional" squatter and was on his way to Jacksonville I think to meet up with friends. Mama actually took him to their house and fed him spaghetti for supper--she said he ate about 3 plates full and of course she fed the dog too. About 2 blocks before they reached the house her car broke down. So my Dad saw my mother walking with a stranger up the driveway and this huge dog. He was very upset. But she introduced him to Scott and Dad settled down during supper. She washed Scott's clothes several times and he spent the night. At the dinner table she offered to wash his hat--and his long dreadlocks tumbled out. The dog slept in the room with Scott. Mama let him call his mother on the phone. She also let him take a shower and said he was in there for an hour. The next day she took him to the truck stop, gave him $20, my Dad gave him a jacket he dould not wear and dopped him off. Scott sent her a couple of post cards after that to let them know he made to his destination and he was OK.

His background was one from a broken family, he was taken in by a police officer's family and he had actually graduated from a junior college with a degree in some sort of architectural refurbishment degree. Anyhwo, he had decided as an adult to go off the beaten path and become a squatter and live that lifestyle. He had certain tools you use to turn on water in abandoned buildings. He was an anti-government kinda guy.

Before he left their home he gave my Mom a beautiful necklace he had made with nuts and bolts on it he would pick up along the road. She still has it and it is really cool.

We have asked her TO NOT BRING anymore hitchickers home and so far she hasn't--she still gives them rides form time to time.

Sorry this is so long but I thought it was an interesting story and one my Mom loves to tell. I didn't get to meet Scott.

 

[dislaney]

No!

 

[Swan4Me]

No way. Are you nuts? You just used up a life there kiddo. Please don't do it again.

Agreed! No way should a woman do this

 

[ToddyLu]

Ultimately one makes a decision to do it or not, but I try not to judge people and sometimes everyone needs a little help. If you are hitching a ride on the MS Gulf Coast and she picks you up, get ready, she is a talker and will take it as an opportunity to witness to you.....that is what a ride with her costs.