Hitching A Ride

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We were watching a documentary about a pretty nasty guy - “The Truth About Jim” - and it talked a lot about Santa Rosa girls who were murdered back in the ‘70’s.

They were all hitchhikers who got in the wrong car.

When I was growing up there were a lot more hitchhikers on the roads. It seemed like you’d see at least a couple a day.

“Don’t EVER hitchhike! Don’t EVER pick up a hitchhiker!”

Mom’s words were the final words on the subject. 

I can honestly say that I never once stuck my thumb out hoping for a ride.

Yet, I DID pick up a hitchhiker once. I was driving back to school and it was raining hard. The poor guy was soaked, and when I saw him out there, I felt bad.

Man, I was a nervous wreck the entire way!

And he was also a weird dude, which made it even worse. He didn’t say a whole lot the entire time he was in the car, and I couldn’t stop thinking about how they were going to find my body in the woods, and he was going to race down Route 5 in my car.

It didn’t happen that way, of course, but just being so nervous while the guy was riding with me cured me of ever picking someone up - ever again.

These days there is Uber and total strangers will now come straight to the house and pick you up and drive you anywhere that you’d like to go.

It’s hitchhiking, in a sense, and other than securing a ride to the airport, I’ve never been in an Uber.

I wouldn’t even be able to secure a ride if someone didn’t set it up for me.

I still recall all the horror stories that Mom relayed about hitchhiking and how it would most certainly end my life.

Mom was right…

…in the documentary those poor girls suffered an awful end.

Seriously.

When is the last time you saw a hitchhiker?

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