Do you pick up hitch hikers?

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  • genglandoh
    Senior Member
    • Dec 2010
    • 10538

    Do you pick up hitch hikers?

    I have a habit of picking up hitch hikers.
    Most of the time it is when I am in the country going to a remote plant for work.

    Last week I staying in Calais Maine working about 30 mins away in a paper mill.
    On Monday at 7:00 AM there was a guy hitch hiking so I picked him up.
    On Tuesday the same thing but a different guy.

    Both lived in the area of the paper mill and both had lost their drivers licenses because of driving drunk.
    They seems like OK guys who just screwed up.

    The most interesting story was when I pick up a guy in Ida Louisiana.
    He was dressed in all denim like the old Marlboro man, cowboy hat and all.
    He was not homeless, he just liked the hobo lifestyle and had been living it for 30 years.
    We had a great talk about the best places to camp.
    We both liked California because of the lack of bugs but Maine was also on the list because of the cool summer nights.
    Just a very interesting gut.

    He was heading to Baton Rough to help a friend with a wood working project.
    I was going to Shreveport LA so I dropped him off at the south side of Shreveport at a main entrance to I-49.
    This way he would have a good chance of getting pick up.
    "The only rules that really matter are these: what a man can do and what a man can’t do." Captain Jack Sparrow
  • Bob (oh, THAT Bob)
    I fix stuff.
    • Feb 2007
    • 10222

    #2
    Re: Do you pick up hitch hikers?

    Only if they are sweet.

    sigpic When you can take the pebble from my hand, it will be time for you to leave.

    Comment

    • S.V. Airlie
      Ancient Mariner
      • Dec 2006
      • 63914

      #3
      Re: Do you pick up hitch hikers?

      I have! So!

      Comment

      • Garret
        Hills of Vermont
        • Apr 2005
        • 48618

        #4
        Re: Do you pick up hitch hikers?

        I do regularly, as I hitched all over the country myself - so it's only fair. I've had a few sketchy ones, but the only time I ever had a problem was when I was hitching.
        "If it ain't broke, you're not trying." - Red Green

        Comment

        • Chris Coose
          Senior Member
          • Sep 2001
          • 12283

          #5
          Re: Do you pick up hitch hikers?

          I hitch and pick them up.
          I hitch mostly to get my car to and from the repair garage up in Damariscotta.

          Rural working guys who lose their licenses are kinda screwed for a while. It is expensive to be poor.
          Good for you.

          Maine is pretty nice in the Spring. You didn't get a chance to see the canoeists crashing down on the Kenduskeag River race, did ya?
          Study Peace

          Comment

          • genglandoh
            Senior Member
            • Dec 2010
            • 10538

            #6
            Re: Do you pick up hitch hikers?

            Originally posted by Garret
            I do regularly, as I hitched all over the country myself - so it's only fair. I've had a few sketchy ones, but the only time I ever had a problem was when I was hitching.
            When I was young, in the 1970's, I would hitch hike all the time.
            I have never had a bad experience both as a hitch hiker or picking one up.
            "The only rules that really matter are these: what a man can do and what a man can’t do." Captain Jack Sparrow

            Comment

            • amish rob
              Emperor For Life
              • Mar 2010
              • 24273

              #7
              Re: Do you pick up hitch hikers?

              When I drive, if I have an empty seat, I do. I often stop at bus stops in town, too.

              My deal is handing out bikes. I ride around until somebody comments on it.
              "Nice bike."
              "You like it?"
              "Yeah!"
              "Here."
              "..."
              "Take it."
              "..."
              "Have fun"
              "..."

              Then I just walk or run home. Sometimes they catch up to say thanks, sometimes they yell it, sometimes you never get one.

              Peace,
              Robert

              Comment

              • Canoeyawl
                .
                • Jun 2003
                • 37698

                #8
                Re: Do you pick up hitch hikers?

                I was arrested for hitch hiking in Maine...
                It was a long time ago, and I wondered if it was still a crime. Seems indeed that it is.

                Comment

                • genglandoh
                  Senior Member
                  • Dec 2010
                  • 10538

                  #9
                  Re: Do you pick up hitch hikers?

                  Originally posted by amish rob
                  When I drive, if I have an empty seat, I do. I often stop at bus stops in town, too.

                  My deal is handing out bikes. I ride around until somebody comments on it.
                  "Nice bike."
                  "You like it?"
                  "Yeah!"
                  "Here."
                  "..."
                  "Take it."
                  "..."
                  "Have fun"
                  "..."

                  Then I just walk or run home. Sometimes they catch up to say thanks, sometimes they yell it, sometimes you never get one.

                  Peace,
                  Robert
                  Please do not take this as any kind of criticism but why do you give out free bikes?
                  "The only rules that really matter are these: what a man can do and what a man can’t do." Captain Jack Sparrow

                  Comment

                  • Ian McColgin
                    Senior Member
                    • Apr 1999
                    • 51639

                    #10
                    Re: Do you pick up hitch hikers?

                    I always pick up until the car is full.

                    One evening leaving Eugene in a snow squall I saw under a light by the on-ramp some guy slumped at the base. So I pulled over to check. He was just dozing. Wanted to go to Portland. Fine. Hop in. After about twenty miles he said, "I don't know if you want to deal with this."

                    He held out his hands showing the cufflinks.

                    Seems he was being transported to court earlier and the Lane County Sheriffs neglected to secure the rear of the cruiser. He just stepped out at a light and blended. He'd been in plain sight under the street lamp for an hour or more.

                    I took him on to Portland, by which time he was ready to surrender so I woke up a defender friend and we worked things out. When I left Oregon a few years later, he was a bit over a year past his sentence, employed, and doing ok.

                    Comment

                    • Breakaway
                      Senior Member
                      • Mar 2007
                      • 28419

                      #11
                      Re: Do you pick up hitch hikers?

                      I used to hitch when when I was a kid. From here on Long Island I hitched to Vermont, Upstate NY, and out to PA. I also hitched "locally," using my skateboard to cover ground between rides.

                      I don't see too many hitchhikers around here anymore. Or during my travels, do I see as many as I remember used to seeing. But I will pick up a hitcher, usually, when I come across them.

                      Kevin
                      There are two kinds of boaters: those who have run aground, and those who lie about it.

                      Comment

                      • amish rob
                        Emperor For Life
                        • Mar 2010
                        • 24273

                        #12
                        Re: Do you pick up hitch hikers?

                        Originally posted by genglandoh
                        Please do not take this as any kind of criticism but why do you give out free bikes?
                        Why not? I get them, rehab them, then distribute them. Bikes are fantastic vehicles.

                        Peace,
                        Robert

                        Comment

                        • S.V. Airlie
                          Ancient Mariner
                          • Dec 2006
                          • 63914

                          #13
                          Re: Do you pick up hitch hikers?

                          Originally posted by Garret
                          I do regularly, as I hitched all over the country myself - so it's only fair. I've had a few sketchy ones, but the only time I ever had a problem was when I was hitching.
                          Coming back from the Race to Halifax, I started back by bus. The problem was the bus got to the end of the line at 3AM and there weren't any buses continuing in the direction I was heading.

                          Quite a sight, hitch hiking in an informal tweed jacket, chords, boat shoes and a button down shirt. Hitched all day without a ride until about 5:30. A Toyota with about 700 lbs. of Mickmack Indians finally stopped, said they had passed me going in the other direction in the early AM, where I was heading and why hadn't I gotten a lift since seeing me earlier (Must have walked about ten miles carrying my boat gear)? I told the Maine, I didn't know why! Anyway, they offered me a ride IF I didn't mind spending the night in the reservation and that they were going to Maine the next day to pick blueberries. I grabbed at the chance and was dumped in the bed of the Truck and was driven to their res. in New Brunswick. Spent the evening eating Lobsters and fighting mosquitoes. Got back in the Truc's bed surrounded by blueberry rakes, chainsaws and clothes to work in the fields. Still wearing the same clothes.Stopped at the border, the Indians had no trouble crossing it but me, in my sports jacket, my boat stuff and riding with 700 lbs. of Native Indians set off flags. As they stood there mumbling and saying they want to get back on the road, I spent about 45 min. getting grilled. Finally, dropped me off in Bangor and found a bus heading to CT but, it was an experience.

                          Comment

                          • Bob (oh, THAT Bob)
                            I fix stuff.
                            • Feb 2007
                            • 10222

                            #14
                            Re: Do you pick up hitch hikers?

                            Originally posted by genglandoh
                            Please do not take this as any kind of criticism but why do you give out free bikes?
                            I'm going to take a guess here, "Because it makes the world a better place." I'm also guessing you rehab thrown out ones, I like I used to.
                            sigpic When you can take the pebble from my hand, it will be time for you to leave.

                            Comment

                            • Garret
                              Hills of Vermont
                              • Apr 2005
                              • 48618

                              #15
                              Re: Do you pick up hitch hikers?

                              Originally posted by genglandoh
                              When I was young, in the 1970's, I would hitch hike all the time.
                              I have never had a bad experience both as a hitch hiker or picking one up.
                              Other than being stuck for hours in driving rain (11 1/2 hours on Interstate 84 in CT for example), I've only had 3 - in at least several hundred thousand miles of hitching. Once was on Comm. Ave in Boston, where I got in the car & noticed that all the door latches except the driver's had been removed. I exited immediately, right over the driver... The other 2 were on the same trip in Hartford CT. A guy picked me up just north of town & as we went through Hartford, he pulled out a pistol, pointed it at me & said "Give me all your money." I replied that he was welcome to it, but that I wasn't hitching because I had a lot of money & gave him the $6.00 I had in my wallet. I had $50 in my boot, but he took the $6, pulled over & told me to get the f out. I did - with alacrity. I started walking up to the next exit, but held my thumb out just in case. Bad move, as 30 seconds later a cop pulled over told me to get in the car & proceeded to take me several miles up into a not nice part of the city. He pulled over to the curb, told me to get out & stand next to the car with my pack (I'd been camping on Moosehead Lake & so had a lot of gear). He then made me unpack the whole thing & spread it on the sidewalk. Thing was I had a film can with a certain herbaceous substance in it in one of the side pockets. I saved that pocket for last hoping he'd get bored - but he didn't. When I got to the pocket, I found the zipper open & nothing in it. Never been so happy to lose some weed in my life! He then wrote me a ticket for soliciting - not "soliciting a ride", but plain soliciting, as in what a prostitute does, and then took off - leaving me miles from the highway in a part of town that (shall we say) I wouldn't have chosen to visit. As I was putting stuff back in the pack, I heard a voice say "Ain't cops a pain in the a...?" & turned around to see one of the biggest men I've ever seen standing on the porch. I said "Sure are" & he laughed. "I noticed you didn't want to open that side pocket & got a look of surprise on your face when it was empty. Didja have something in there you didn't want the cop to see?" "Yep, a film can." He laughed again & said "Now that I can help you with" & pulled out a fat joint. We smoked it, I told him about being held up ("Smart guy expecting hitch-hikers to have any money!") & he then said "It's a long walk back to the highway & you don't want to be walking through most of it. Hop in the car & I'll give you a ride." He drove me back to an entrance & told me to have "a better rest of the trip".

                              So - It all ended OK - but wasn't fun for a lot of it.

                              Of course there was one time when I hit the hitch-hiker's dream - she took me home for the night before dropping me off at my destination.

                              I'm sure lots of folks here have some good hitching stories!
                              Last edited by Garret; 04-17-2017, 12:52 PM. Reason: speeling
                              "If it ain't broke, you're not trying." - Red Green

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