Stick out your thumb
There's a debate raging in the little green house, and we need some input.One of us -- I'll let you guess which -- picked up a hitchhiker this week. She was driving without TheBoy, and the hitchhiker was a relatively sane and safe looking young woman. The other one of us thinks this was absolutely insane and irresponsible behavior that should have stopped about the time the wedding vows were taken, and certainly before Junior joined the world.
So we need your help. Picking up complete and probably smelly strangers who could kill you and leave your mangled body by the side of the road: Acceptable or not?
(Sidenote to our mothers: Please stop screaming. Everything turned out fine.)
posted by AnnaRay at 3:20 PM
13 Comments:
I never pick 'em up, myself. But that's probably because I'm a New Yorker and therefore don't even want to be driving a car in the first place, much less driving a car with a smelly stranger in it.
But I was once a passenger in a car where the driver picked up a stray couple en route to your very town. For her this was totally normal. For me it was freaky, especially when I glimpsed the swastika tattoo on the guy's arm. But nothing bad happened, we dropped them off an hour or two later, and all was well.
It does seem like hitchhiking is coming back into fashion for people about half a generation younger than us. My sister, who's in that age group, has done it quite a lot. She's vegan and not likely to murder anybody, although she might give you a hard time if you have leather seats. ;-)
This is a mom who is screaming. Never, NEVER, put yourself in that situation. Use you cell phone and call the police and tell them there is someone who needs assistance. Also the hitchhiker is in tremendous danger. Since average people have stopped picking them up, who is left? Years ago everyone I knew hitchkiked between towns and home from college, but that was when people knew each other.
More screaming. I don't want my grandson to be without his Ema. Please don't do that again.
It is alright to threaten big middle eastern men with physical harm, but don't pick up desperate young women on the road.
Hmmm... tough one. "Young" is a point in the driver's favor, as is "woman." But hitchhikers as a rule are more of a risk than they're worth. There are so many ways to get from one place to another that I question whether anyone needs to hitchhike at all.
What EVER happened to the sixties? Hitchikers are people who need rides.
I concur with Jacob. Too much of a risk, young and woman aside. And, as a middle eastern looking fellow, I have to say, Anna you shoulda gone upside that dude's head at the pool. Pulling the kiddo to the ground is so wholly uncalled for.
I am touched both by the generosity of one of you and the concern of the other of you.
I've occasionally picked up hitchhikers. It's probably dumb. I like the thought-out suggestion of calling the cops.
More occasionally I've offered rides to people who aren't hitching, but who look like they could use a ride.
Most distressing -- two years of Spanish and I never learned how to lean out the window and ask, "would you like a ride?" to small families walking down hot roads with loads of groceries. Even more than most distressing -- I haven't thought to ask anyone how to say it. Anybody know?
My wife leans toward the driver. I agree with the author. [My wife has been robbed at gun point ... well, it was an attempted robbery; she smacked the gun out of the would be assailant's hand ... it was a real gun.] Generally, I think there should be more people in the world with the kindness to pick up hitchhikers. Alas, their numbers are diminishing, primarily due to being killed. The descriptors of the passenger, young and woman, do not comfort me. But then again, I didn't think Charlize Theron deserved an Oscar for her 2003 role in Monster -- I don't think it would be difficult to portray a YOUNG FEMALE serial killer. As for my wife's aspirations to support and perpetuate an ideal world where everyone collectively cares for everyone else, I urge that thumbers keep walking.
No! Do not pick up hitchhikers! Parents of young children do not have the right to take those kinds of risks, whether the child is in the car or not. And if that guy had touched my kid I would have reacted just the way you did. I'm a fellow lesbian mom, by the way.
I can't believe what Rich said. He must be insane. I know he would have killed me if I did that. What were you thinking Judy. this is your sister screaming at you. WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? Thank g-d Mom is in Budapest. I won't tell.
What if, once you stopped, the young woman's big black crack head boyfriend/pimp appeared beside her and said, thanks for picking US up? Mothers of young children (like myself) have a duty to worry about themselves and their children's well being, not the transportation problems of strangers.
You picked up a hitch hiker??? You have a wife and a child and another one the way. Are you totally devoid of common sense? Is your judgement so flawed that you no longer have any sense of reposibility or obligation? Have I spawned an idiot? Next time, engage what little is left between your ears before acting. Your father, the Pig
Everything turned out fine??? You've got to be kidding! You don't play Russian Roulette with family obligations. If your single, do what the hell you want with your life, but not when you have responsiblities to a wife and children. Your father-in-law.
She smacked a gun out of the would-be assailant's hand? Now *that's* the craziest thing I've seen on this blog. But who knows what I'd have done in the same situation. Probably something equally lunatic, like wetting my pants.
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