Hitchhiking

ive hitchhiked in mexico a few times. its actually pretty common there, especially in rural areas. ive also been in a car when we picked up a hitchhiker in mexico. we were in this village in the jungle and this dude was trying to go to mexico city - we drove him about two hours down the road to the next town where he could catch a bus.

i would never do either of those things in america. haha.

my dad talked about how he used to hitchhike from san antonio to austin all the time in the late 60's. his brother (my uncle) hitchiked to san francisco and back the summer after he graduated high school. seems crazy now, but it was more common back in those days.

 

nope...have never had the need to, and don’t think I ever will...too many crazy people out here these days

 

Yeah man.

- In the late 90's I ran out of gas and had to exit in the 5th Ward one morning. I didn't make it to the gas station - it was about half a mile. This thug looking dude pulls up and asks if I need a ride. I'm the whitest guy ever walking in a suit in the 5th Ward, but I figure, well, if I'm ****ed I'm ****ed and jumped in. He took me to the gas station. He asks me if I can help him out, and I say, well, I don't have any cash but I will fill your gas tank up, and paid for it. Bought a gas can, got some gas, he took me back to my car, and drove off. Nice guy. I was never really scared but I was leery the whole time.

- In the early 90's my girlfriend and I were coming home from a bar in the Clear Lake area. We clipped a curb and had a blowout. We pulled in to a gas station and this older guy in this old beat up truck asks us if we need a ride. This was before cell phones and we were going to her parents, and I didn't really relish the thought of calling them from a pay phone for a ride, so we said yes. The guy was wasted and the floor of his truck was littered with nudie mags- Swank, Hustler, etc. He started talking about how he loved big t*tties, but at the time my girlfriend was pretty flat (she later got a boob job but that's another story). He took us to her parent's house and dropped us off. Weirdo.

- In the early 90's, again, I got wasted at this bar/club in the Clear Lake area called J Larkins. I decided I wanted to walk home to my apartment, which was about two miles away. I stumbled out of the bar and this guy rolls up and mumbles 'hey, want a ride?' like he was really drunk or had a speech impediment. I was invulnerable so I go sure and hopped in. We got to HW3 and hit a red light and he goes 'Let me see your d***' and I'm like 'what?' And he repeats himself but is yelling. I say something like F no and he starts to reach under his seat. I jumped out of the car and punched the window (because that made sense at the time) and he takes off when the light turns green. I walked the rest of the way home and went to bed.

- In the early 00's, I go to this after hours club in downtown Houston with my buddy who sort of got in trouble a lot. Around 4 he's like, hey, I met this guy who wants to take us to bang these girls he knows, and I'm wasted and go yeah man. We're in my buddy's little compact truck and this guy he met is a straight thug, they type you can tell did some time from his body language. I get this bad feeling about the whole thing and tell them I'm going to puke and ask to get in the back. We're going up 45 north of Downtown and this guy keeps looking back at me, giving me a really bad feeling. I tell my buddy to drop me off at the gas station because 'I'm going to throw up'. He drops me off and they leave me there. Two hours pass and my buddy comes back. He tells me that the guy had a gun and was going to rob and probably kill us. He got out of it all by acting stark raving mad (he was) and waving around his military discharge papers and talking about Abraham Lincoln or some ****. He ended up giving the guy all the cash he had and dropping him off in a real shady part of town. Not really hitch-hiking but it involved a strange person.

- A couple years ago I was driving down this long stretch of feeder road in Webster. It's raining pretty hard and I see this girl, maybe 18, walking in the rain with no umbrella. I pull over and ask if she needs a ride to which she says no (good for her). I then offer her my umbrella. She says no, so I toss it out the window. She starts flipping out and screaming at me that she doesn't need it, but I just drive off. I can see her screaming in my liveware mirror then abruptly stop and pick up the umbrella. Weird experience. I got drenched when I got where I was going, but it was a pink umbrella (my wife's) so being wet was manlier than using it anyway.

- In the very early 90's, I was visiting my grandma in Seabrook. I turned the corner and this guy had driven off the road and hit a tree. I stopped to see if he needed help. He was wasted, and offered me money to take him to a gas station. I refused the money, took him to the gas station, then went to grandmas.

I guess with cell phones and lyft/uber, the need for hitch hiking is drying up pretty fast, unless you're broke.

 

I've given plenty of random people on the streets rides. "Hey man I just got out of jail and this is my first job, can you give me a ride".

 

I hitched a couple times in the late 80's early 90's. I also picked up a few to return the favor a couple times. Only bad experience was when a guy stole 2 joints out of my ash tray and I didn't notice until I had dropped him off and went to retrieve them later that evening.

 

Yeah, first time was when I was moving out of my parents' house, but I only got to the end of the fence. It was a start, though.

 

I’ve never done it but it was pretty common when I lived in Avon, CO. Still prevalent in some mountain towns here for sure

 

Man, that first story with the socks is crazy.

None of my stories are good... Basically just all safe rides, haha, but haven't done it in probably 15 years.

I was already early 20s then too for the few times I'd done it. Not very interesting like these other ones.

 

One more:

-Mid 90's, I was driving in Friendswood down FM 528. It's a super busy road and there are tons of cars. On the side of the road, a good 1/4 of a mile from any stores or houses, was this little boy, probably 3 years old, walking alone. I stopped and he was crying and scared asking for his momma. I picked him up and drove back the other way. There was one of those Chuck-e-Cheese knockoffs about 1/4 a mile back so I figured he must have come from there. I took him inside and his mother comes running up and grabs him and gives me a dirty look. I told her where I picked him up and chewed her out for not keeping a closer eye on her kid. I like to think that I saved that kid that day. The sad thing is that a hundred cars must have passed him before anyone stopped.

Now that I have kids, I am a tad bit more understanding about kids running off, but I keep a very sharp eye on my little ones. I have serious problems with poor parenting.

Pretty messed up. I think there are a LOT more screwed up people out there than people realize.

 

Isn't that the inventor of the "2 minute six-pack abs" workout? It used to take 3 minutes.

 

I think I saw you...


It's a generational thing. Those of us who came of age in the 70's more than likely hitchhiked at some point. In a college town, put a book under your arm and stick out your thumb.

 

I loved Weird Al when I was in HS. He had a short lived show on either MTV or VH1 called 'AL TV' and I remember him saying that the car commercial you just posted was based on Cal Worthington.

 

I like to pick up hitchhikers. When they get in the car I like to say, "So, how far did you think you were going anyway?" or "Put on your seat belt. I want to try something. I saw it once in a cartoon, but I think I can do it."

Spoiler

yeah, I know it's Steven Wright...

 

A guy is kind enough to not only offer you a ride but get you safely to your destination and he just happens to like big t*tties. So you call him a weirdo? Man, the audacity of some of you you guys. This is why I don’t pick up hitchhikers.