| Hitchhikers....would you? 08:20 - Oct 30 with 4807 views | bluelagos |
Was chatting last night to someone who was adamant they would never pick up or ask for a lift by hitchhiking.
I have done both a few times, never huge journeys but never really worried me in terms of my safety and thought they were paranoid in assuming the worst of people.
My friend was amazed at my attitude, me at theirs. Who's the crazy one here? |  |
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| Hitchhikers....would you? on 08:24 - Oct 30 with 3187 views | Sikamikanico |
I would not pick anyone up or do it myself
The fact is you don't know who you would be sharing the car with. |  | | |
| Hitchhikers....would you? on 08:24 - Oct 30 with 3187 views | SaleAway |
Picked up a hitchhiker last night
He said "Thanks, but how do you know i’m not a serial killer?"
I replied that the chances of two serial killers being in the same car are astronomical | |
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| Hitchhikers....would you? on 08:29 - Oct 30 with 3161 views | clive_baker |
I haven't and probably wouldn't ever do it, but I don't think you're crazy for doing it. I wouldn't fear for my safety necessarily, I've just never been in the position where I've had to and never really felt like I should pick one up. Having said that I can't remember the last time I saw a hitchiker. |  |
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| Hitchhikers....would you? on 08:29 - Oct 30 with 3161 views | bluelagos |
| Hitchhikers....would you? on 08:24 - Oct 30 by Sikamikanico |
I would not pick anyone up or do it myself
The fact is you don't know who you would be sharing the car with. |
So by that logic, the potential serial killer is unlikely to own a car, rather he would be the one hitchhiking? | |
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| Hitchhikers....would you? on 08:31 - Oct 30 with 3144 views | BanksterDebtSlave |
Hitched loads in the past....no problems....always stop....but rarely see any. [Post edited 30 Oct 2019 8:31]
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| Hitchhikers....would you? on 08:31 - Oct 30 with 3143 views | bluelagos |
| Hitchhikers....would you? on 08:29 - Oct 30 by clive_baker |
I haven't and probably wouldn't ever do it, but I don't think you're crazy for doing it. I wouldn't fear for my safety necessarily, I've just never been in the position where I've had to and never really felt like I should pick one up. Having said that I can't remember the last time I saw a hitchiker. |
Which is what prompted the conversation. Very rarely see them these days. Think I've literally picked 3 up in as many years. Carless at present so aint happening on 2 wheels. | |
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| Hitchhikers....would you? on 08:33 - Oct 30 with 3137 views | bluelagos |
| Hitchhikers....would you? on 08:31 - Oct 30 by BanksterDebtSlave |
Hitched loads in the past....no problems....always stop....but rarely see any. [Post edited 30 Oct 2019 8:31]
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Was expecting that answer Banster. You're a goodun :-) | |
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| Hitchhikers....would you? on 08:35 - Oct 30 with 3130 views | wellsy700 |
Hitchhiked a lot when in New Zealand but would probably never do it here. It’s so common in NZ that at times I had to queue behind other backpackers to get a spot to hitchhike. Always got a lift within 15 mins though :) |  |
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| Hitchhikers....would you? on 08:37 - Oct 30 with 3124 views | BanksterDebtSlave |
| Hitchhikers....would you? on 08:33 - Oct 30 by bluelagos |
Was expecting that answer Banster. You're a goodun :-) |
Used to hitch to do grape picking in France....sometimes took a while (2 days in Chateauroux!).
Was once offered a sauna in Swindon by a fella but politely turned him down and that was that....
Used to get to the start of M1 and there would be 10 other people with destinations on cardboard twtd! | |
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| Hitchhikers....would you? on 08:39 - Oct 30 with 3121 views | ITFC1983 |
I used to do it all the time, anyone I saw who was hitching I would stop and often even went out of my way to drop them where they needed rather than my nearest point to them. Never had any issues and they were always friendly and polite.
However, since having my son I wouldn't do it, not sure why I now feel that way but I wouldn't want to risk anything happening to him. |  |
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| Hitchhikers....would you? on 08:41 - Oct 30 with 3111 views | bluelagos |
| Hitchhikers....would you? on 08:35 - Oct 30 by wellsy700 |
Hitchhiked a lot when in New Zealand but would probably never do it here. It’s so common in NZ that at times I had to queue behind other backpackers to get a spot to hitchhike. Always got a lift within 15 mins though :) |
Picked up shed loads when on holiday in South Africa a few years back. On Xmas day gave one family a lift en route to Durban and the mother tried to give me petrol money when I dropped her off. She had sfa but was willing to offer money she could ill afford.
Which is what it's all about for me, why so we assume the worst in people so quickly? | |
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| Hitchhikers....would you? on 08:44 - Oct 30 with 3098 views | bluelagos |
| Hitchhikers....would you? on 08:39 - Oct 30 by ITFC1983 |
I used to do it all the time, anyone I saw who was hitching I would stop and often even went out of my way to drop them where they needed rather than my nearest point to them. Never had any issues and they were always friendly and polite.
However, since having my son I wouldn't do it, not sure why I now feel that way but I wouldn't want to risk anything happening to him. |
Parental responsibility I guess? | |
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| Hitchhikers....would you? on 08:48 - Oct 30 with 3084 views | ITFC1983 |
| Hitchhikers....would you? on 08:44 - Oct 30 by bluelagos |
Parental responsibility I guess? |
I guess, I think also I don't travel about as much as before he came along.
Probably when he is older I will carry on. | |
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| Hitchhikers....would you? on 08:48 - Oct 30 with 3080 views | BanksterDebtSlave |
| Hitchhikers....would you? on 08:39 - Oct 30 by ITFC1983 |
I used to do it all the time, anyone I saw who was hitching I would stop and often even went out of my way to drop them where they needed rather than my nearest point to them. Never had any issues and they were always friendly and polite.
However, since having my son I wouldn't do it, not sure why I now feel that way but I wouldn't want to risk anything happening to him. |
Something to do with the internet and Brass Eye media maybe.....
Edit.... in reality strangers still generally surprise to the upside. [Post edited 30 Oct 2019 8:50]
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| Hitchhikers....would you? on 08:50 - Oct 30 with 3064 views | BLUEBEAT |
Hitchhikers would lower their thumbs when they saw my old Dodge van coming up the road  |  |
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| Hitchhikers....would you? on 09:02 - Oct 30 with 3037 views | StokieBlue |
I don't think I would either pick them up or do it myself nowadays.
It's not exactly hitchhiking but back in the early 2000's in Russia any old Lada would stop when you put your thumb out and you'd pay them a token fee and they would take you near to where you wanted if it was on their route. It was an old tradition from the soviet times when I guess taxis were scarce but in hindsight it was a totally ridiculous thing to be doing.
SB |  |
| Avatar - IC410 - Tadpoles Nebula |
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| Hitchhikers....would you? on 09:12 - Oct 30 with 3018 views | BiGDonnie |
Na eff that. I'd do neither, unless the hitchhiker has massive boobs. |  |
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| Hitchhikers....would you? on 09:33 - Oct 30 with 2990 views | allezlesbleus |
I hitched loads when I was in my late teens / early 20's, mainly because there was no public transport after 6pm to the village where I lived 5 miles from Ipswich. Never had any problems, although, once when I was hitching from Lowestoft to Gt Yarmouth, the guy pulled into the layby after a few minutes and started searching under his seat. " Just checking my kitten is still in the car he said". I bolted out of the car door in a flash and rather sheepishly got back in when a few seconds later he found the kitten.
The most scariest one I experienced was when 8 of us were out drinking in Umhlanga Rocks, outside Durban. My mate and I were a bit bored in a Karaoke bar, which the rest of the group were loving, so we decided to head into central Durban. We left the karaoke bar and went to look for a taxi, without success. I saw a security vehicle outside a takeaway and asked the driver where the nearest taxi rank was. He asked where we were going and when I said central Durban, he said that he was going there and would give us a lift, once his 2 mates came out of the takeaway.
He was driving a security "bakkie" or pick up, which consisted of 3 places in the front and an enclosed cage on the back. He told us to jump in the back, which we did. After a few minutes, one of his mates got in the front with him and the other guy jumped in the back with us. He was off his head and a total nutter. After a few minutes, he pulls a gun out and starts waving it around. "Anyone gives me any sh*t" he says "and I say, f**k you, motherf****r". We agree with him and say that it is the same for us in England. After several minutes, the pick up suddenly stops, on a quiet dual carriageway, in complete darkness, with just a wooden wasteland area on one side and a township on the other. I must admit that I was quite worried at this stage, but as I had lived in SA for 3 years and my mate had only been there on holiday, I knew I had to take the lead. The 2 guys got out of the front and opened up the back and the "nutter" jumped out. My mate said he was going to leg it......I said "to where?" There was nowhere safe to run to. Fortunately, it turns out that they had just stopped for a pee. So, we make it into central Durban and the driver shouted out of the window to ask us where we were going. The only place I knew in Durban was Joe Cools, right on the seafront, which at the time was a slightly less dangerous part of Durban. "No" the driver said, "you don't want to go there, it's cr*p". I explained that we were already a bit late meeting mates, so we had to go there. Fortunately, he took us there and let us out in the car park. The nutter said "aren't you going to buy us a beer for bringing you here?" "Cause I am" I said and followed them into the bar/club. The nutter then proceeded to steam through the whole of the bar, to the back bar, shoulder barging everyone he went past. The atmosphere was quite tense, as he had quite understandably upset a number of the patrons. I bought a round of beers and my mate said " I'm going to the toilet and then I'm doing a runner!" I talked him out of it and fortunately the situation calmed down. The funniest part of the evening for me was when the nutter was saying how he was a massive Man U fan and my mate, who is staunch Ipswich, was going along with him, saying how he goes to Old Trafford all the time to watch them etc.
The best hitch I done was from Bloemfontein to Cape Town - exactly 1,000 kms journey. A friend dropped me off at the dual carriageway and in less than a minute, a car stopped and took me to Beaufort West (about 600kms). After a quick bite to eat and toilet break, I put my thumb up to hitch. The first car stopped and dropped me off bang in the centre of Cape Town, outside my mates apartment. I literally wouldn't have done it any quicker if I had driven myself.
Living now in rural Normandy, it is quite common to see people hitchhiking, as the public transport network is very limited. I almost always stop and give them a lift. |  | | |
| Hitchhikers....would you? on 09:57 - Oct 30 with 2953 views | Sikamikanico |
| Hitchhikers....would you? on 08:29 - Oct 30 by bluelagos |
So by that logic, the potential serial killer is unlikely to own a car, rather he would be the one hitchhiking? |
Nope. I said I would not do either so the driver could equally be the serial killer.
But serial killers are the extreme example. There are many unsavoury people lower on the scale | | | |
| Hitchhikers....would you? on 09:58 - Oct 30 with 2948 views | itfcjoe |
| Hitchhikers....would you? on 09:02 - Oct 30 by StokieBlue |
I don't think I would either pick them up or do it myself nowadays.
It's not exactly hitchhiking but back in the early 2000's in Russia any old Lada would stop when you put your thumb out and you'd pay them a token fee and they would take you near to where you wanted if it was on their route. It was an old tradition from the soviet times when I guess taxis were scarce but in hindsight it was a totally ridiculous thing to be doing.
SB |
I was in Russia and got in an old Lada, it was an old lady driving and she stopped to let 6 drunk Englishmen in her car and we paid double what she asked for afterwards.
Thinking back it is mental though that she did it |  |
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| Hitchhikers....would you? on 10:00 - Oct 30 with 2942 views | BiGDonnie |
| Hitchhikers....would you? on 09:33 - Oct 30 by allezlesbleus |
I hitched loads when I was in my late teens / early 20's, mainly because there was no public transport after 6pm to the village where I lived 5 miles from Ipswich. Never had any problems, although, once when I was hitching from Lowestoft to Gt Yarmouth, the guy pulled into the layby after a few minutes and started searching under his seat. " Just checking my kitten is still in the car he said". I bolted out of the car door in a flash and rather sheepishly got back in when a few seconds later he found the kitten.
The most scariest one I experienced was when 8 of us were out drinking in Umhlanga Rocks, outside Durban. My mate and I were a bit bored in a Karaoke bar, which the rest of the group were loving, so we decided to head into central Durban. We left the karaoke bar and went to look for a taxi, without success. I saw a security vehicle outside a takeaway and asked the driver where the nearest taxi rank was. He asked where we were going and when I said central Durban, he said that he was going there and would give us a lift, once his 2 mates came out of the takeaway.
He was driving a security "bakkie" or pick up, which consisted of 3 places in the front and an enclosed cage on the back. He told us to jump in the back, which we did. After a few minutes, one of his mates got in the front with him and the other guy jumped in the back with us. He was off his head and a total nutter. After a few minutes, he pulls a gun out and starts waving it around. "Anyone gives me any sh*t" he says "and I say, f**k you, motherf****r". We agree with him and say that it is the same for us in England. After several minutes, the pick up suddenly stops, on a quiet dual carriageway, in complete darkness, with just a wooden wasteland area on one side and a township on the other. I must admit that I was quite worried at this stage, but as I had lived in SA for 3 years and my mate had only been there on holiday, I knew I had to take the lead. The 2 guys got out of the front and opened up the back and the "nutter" jumped out. My mate said he was going to leg it......I said "to where?" There was nowhere safe to run to. Fortunately, it turns out that they had just stopped for a pee. So, we make it into central Durban and the driver shouted out of the window to ask us where we were going. The only place I knew in Durban was Joe Cools, right on the seafront, which at the time was a slightly less dangerous part of Durban. "No" the driver said, "you don't want to go there, it's cr*p". I explained that we were already a bit late meeting mates, so we had to go there. Fortunately, he took us there and let us out in the car park. The nutter said "aren't you going to buy us a beer for bringing you here?" "Cause I am" I said and followed them into the bar/club. The nutter then proceeded to steam through the whole of the bar, to the back bar, shoulder barging everyone he went past. The atmosphere was quite tense, as he had quite understandably upset a number of the patrons. I bought a round of beers and my mate said " I'm going to the toilet and then I'm doing a runner!" I talked him out of it and fortunately the situation calmed down. The funniest part of the evening for me was when the nutter was saying how he was a massive Man U fan and my mate, who is staunch Ipswich, was going along with him, saying how he goes to Old Trafford all the time to watch them etc.
The best hitch I done was from Bloemfontein to Cape Town - exactly 1,000 kms journey. A friend dropped me off at the dual carriageway and in less than a minute, a car stopped and took me to Beaufort West (about 600kms). After a quick bite to eat and toilet break, I put my thumb up to hitch. The first car stopped and dropped me off bang in the centre of Cape Town, outside my mates apartment. I literally wouldn't have done it any quicker if I had driven myself.
Living now in rural Normandy, it is quite common to see people hitchhiking, as the public transport network is very limited. I almost always stop and give them a lift. |
Great post, enjoyed reading that.
Proper shady, I'd have been with your mate and legged it, regardless of how close you and I were  | |
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| Hitchhikers....would you? on 10:02 - Oct 30 with 2944 views | itfcjoe |
Me and a couple of mates said we'd pick a hitchhiker up if we saw one when coming back from Manchester, the day after we'd lost 1-0 to Wigan.
We saw one and it was a massive bloke on biking leathers and he looked like you wouldn't mess but picked him up - had hid all phones, wallets etc in front as thought he might mug us! Was a lovely bloke, and later said he was a bit worried about getting in with 3 blokes as thought we might beat him up, which is ludicrous had you seen him and us.
He was heading up Norwich way so we checked A-Zs and managed to go slightly off route to drop him somewhere he'd have a better chance of getting back from.
I've never hitch hiked myself, probably wouldn't - when my Dad was young it sounds like people would do it all the time - to get down the beach etc on a sunny day especially | |
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| Hitchhikers....would you? on 10:44 - Oct 30 with 2880 views | allezlesbleus |
| Hitchhikers....would you? on 10:00 - Oct 30 by BiGDonnie |
Great post, enjoyed reading that.
Proper shady, I'd have been with your mate and legged it, regardless of how close you and I were |
To be honest, legging it would have probably got you into a more precarious position! | | | |
| Hitchhikers....would you? on 11:46 - Oct 30 with 2831 views | Oldsmoker |
I used to hitch everywhere when I was a kid - early '70's.
There was always a lift to take me to the football if I wore my scarf, even on a Tuesday night. They'd offer a lift back as well after the match if I was at the car when they got there.
I never had any trouble either on my own or with a friend.
The last hitchhiker I picked up was 2 weeks ago. He had just missed a bus and was obviously wanting to get into town asap. I overtook the bus as it was picking up at a stop and he got out at the next stop. My lift was helpful to him but the bus could go through the "Buses Only" route so it was thanks for the 4 bus stops worth but no thanks to the long way round. I was glad to help. |  |
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| Hitchhikers....would you? on 11:48 - Oct 30 with 2830 views | eireblue |
| Hitchhikers....would you? on 09:57 - Oct 30 by Sikamikanico |
Nope. I said I would not do either so the driver could equally be the serial killer.
But serial killers are the extreme example. There are many unsavoury people lower on the scale |
Public transport must be difficult for you. |  | | |
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