Would you pick up a hitchhiker?

[DRFC1879]

Pick up hitchhikers? Half the weirdos on here don't even answer their own front door.

I've hitched once. I was a student in Nottingham and had a girlfriend who lived near Birmingham. I was due to get the train down to hers on Sunday morning but having finished my bar shift on Saturday night I decided to save myself the fare and hitch down. Got to hers about 2:30am thanks in the most part to a chauffeur on his way to pick up his gaffer from Birmingham Airport in an S-Class Merc.

I've picked up hitchers three times. First was a trade plater on the A1 near Durham heading back to Grimsby. I took him as far as Doncaster. Had a chat about music etc. and he was perfectly normal and pleasant.

Second chap was a ~50 year old John Lydon lookalike on his way from Glasgow to a punk gig in Newcastle. Dropped him at Scotch Corner. Made the journey thoroughly enjoyable listening to his experiences (no doubt somewhat embellished but who cares?!) of life following and sometimes being a roadie for various bands for 30 years or so.

The third was a student who I picked up from Toddington. He was heading up to Leeds so I dropped him at Woodall.

I wasn't murdered or bummed once.

[zeb]

GetCarter said:

zeb said:

GetCarter said:

Regularly - almost every time I see them.

Partly as there is no public transport here, and it can be 20+ miles between settlements.

eh?....do you live on a bloody indian reservation?

Nope. UK. There are no towns near, a few villages, some hamlets and smaller settlements.

ETA: Settlements rarely have a shop or pub. Just a few houses. But if you get stuck out in bad weather, any of the houses will usually take you in until the weather clears. It's the way it's been done for centuries here.

Out of interest, I picked up a chap a few weeks ago who was trying to get to the Torridon Hostel. It was getting dark, so I added 20 miles to my journey to make sure he got there safely. Happens a lot here. Most locals will go out of their way to help folk.

Edited by GetCarter on Thursday 5th December 13:27

damn...no wigwams then......

[Rider007]

Hoofy said:

Just a heads up on a hitchhiker scam.
Two nice looking women ask for a lift to McDonald's.
You agree and they climb into the vehicle. On the way, they start undressing. Then one of them starts crawling all over you, while the other one steals your wallet.
I had my wallet stolen JULY 4th, 9th, 10th, twice on the 15th, again on the 17th, 20th, 24th, and the 29th. Also AUGUST 1st, 4th, 8th, twice on the 12th &13th, and very likely again this upcoming weekend.
So tell your friends to be careful.


That made my eyes water






Stolen without shame from another website.

[s2sol]

I was approached by a young couple in Belgium, on my way back from an exhibition in Cologne. They asked me if I was going to Scotland - I was wearing a Scotland rugby shirt. I said no, but I'd get them to Calais, then they could sort themselves out. They chucked their bags in the back of the van, and off we went. A quick stop in Adinkerk for beer and fags, and arrived at the freight terminal at Calais having forgotten to drop them off elsewhere. Freight tickets include two passengers, and it turned out the additional passenger was 14 euro, or something. They ponied up between them, and we went to sit in the lane. The truck in front of us had about 15 immigrants dragged out of it, and the fecking drug dogs came over to my van. At this point, I realised I had no idea who these two were, and I knew they'd come from Amsterdam that day.

The bloody dogs were very keen on their bags in the back of the van. The dog handler dragged the bags onto the ground where we all looked at them. The young couple were both in tears, I was thinking I was going down for the rest of my life. Long story short, it was her sandwiches, apparently.

I used to do a lot of work in the Netherlands and North West Germany, and had a little routine on the ferry. Straight to the drivers lounge to eat, then a shower and a decent kip. These bds wouldn't leave me alone and kept me awake all the way across.

I eventually got rid of them somewhere around Cheltenham, and have never picked one up since.

[FredericRobinson]

DRFC1879 said:

Second chap was a ~50 year old John Lydon lookalike on his way from Glasgow to a punk gig in Newcastle. Dropped him at Scotch Corner. Made the journey thoroughly enjoyable listening to his experiences (no doubt somewhat embellished but who cares?!) of life following and sometimes being a roadie for various bands for 30 years or so.

Only ever picked one up, same bloke, if you see him again I've still got his sunglasses

[glenrobbo]

GetCarter said:

Nearly all backpackers - mostly Yanks, Scandinavians, Germans, Dutch etc who are 'doing the Scottish Highlands'. Then there are the 16 year olds with no car and are on their way back from a local party (often 40+ miles), then, of course, the Alfa drivers who break down in the glen where there is no mobile signal ;0)

ETA... and TVRs (of course).

Hey!

TVRs are renowned for their reliability, Steve.

TBH, having driven the awesome roads round your way, I would have no hesitation driving hitchhikers as many miles out of my way as they wished.
I thoroughly enjoyed our S Club Tour of Scotland a while back, but missed meeting up with you in Torridon because the hotel restaurant and car park was absolutely rammed.

[DRFC1879]

FredericRobinson said:

DRFC1879 said:

Second chap was a ~50 year old John Lydon lookalike on his way from Glasgow to a punk gig in Newcastle. Dropped him at Scotch Corner. Made the journey thoroughly enjoyable listening to his experiences (no doubt somewhat embellished but who cares?!) of life following and sometimes being a roadie for various bands for 30 years or so.

Only ever picked one up, same bloke, if you see him again I've still got his sunglasses

Still remember his name. "Dego"

[aka_kerrly]

it's been ages since i even saw a hitchhiker.

There was one occasion when I was driving home fairly late when i saw two lovely ladies waving their thumbs an shaking their asses keen for a lift back to town. It could have all been so different had i not been driving a Golf GTI with a stripped out interior

[Fullook]

Robertj21a said:

psi310398 said:

Probably true, but what is different is that in these days of Me Too, the po po now assume that any complaint of sexual impropriety is by definition well-founded and credible.

From my POV it is simply not worth the arseache of proving innocence, or worse ending up in a 'he said, she said' situation.

Quite. Some women are fairly quick off the mark nowadays with complaints about men (understandable in many circumstances) - but why do I need any possible such hassle if I'm just being a Good Samaritan ?

What the actual fk are you two talking about?

[NDA]

DRFC1879 said:

I wasn't murdered or bummed once.

Tiny bit?

[Cotty]

NDA said:

DRFC1879 said:

I wasn't murdered or bummed once.

Tiny bit?

or more than once.

[Superchickenn]

On a road trip last year after driving back from Germany via Belgium and heading to the port on France I spotted a hitchhiker.. He was stood at the port with an England sign...

We were a 3 car convoy with only one person per car and walkie talkies..

Anyways I stopped and offered a lift.. It was a German guy who was heading to Liverpool (but out of our way as we were going to South Wales but the ferry people wouldn't let him on as a foot passenger.. In fact their advice to the guy was go and find a push bike and then we will let you on.. Such a mad rule.

The port let him jump in my car and board the ferry at no extra cost.. During this time however we all had walkie talkies with ear pieces on and my mates were saying things like "he's gonna murder you"..

During the ferry trip we helped the guy locate a train station and a train to catch which was less than 10 mins from the port.. We had 20 mins from the ferry port at Dover to the train station but the ferry was delayed for un known reasons.. Anyways the doors opened and I had 6 mins or so to do a 10 min journey..

Needless to say I got him to station as the train was about to leave to which he lept out of the car and I assume caught the train..

Twas only when I got home I found the sign he left behind in my car



Overall I didn't die

[dirty doug]

Superchickenn said:

On a road trip last year after driving back from Germany via Belgium and heading to the port on France I spotted a hitchhiker.. He was stood at the port with an England sign...

We were a 3 car convoy with only one person per car and walkie talkies..

Anyways I stopped and offered a lift.. It was a German guy who was heading to Liverpool (but out of our way as we were going to South Wales but the ferry people wouldn't let him on as a foot passenger.. In fact their advice to the guy was go and find a push bike and then we will let you on.. Such a mad rule.

The port let him jump in my car and board the ferry at no extra cost.. During this time however we all had walkie talkies with ear pieces on and my mates were saying things like "he's gonna murder you"..

During the ferry trip we helped the guy locate a train station and a train to catch which was less than 10 mins from the port.. We had 20 mins from the ferry port at Dover to the train station but the ferry was delayed for un known reasons.. Anyways the doors opened and I had 6 mins or so to do a 10 min journey..

Needless to say I got him to station as the train was about to leave to which he lept out of the car and I assume caught the train..

Twas only when I got home I found the sign he left behind in my car



Overall I didn't die

Did he steal your headlining though?

[Rude-boy]

GetCarter said:

zeb said:

GetCarter said:

Regularly - almost every time I see them.

Partly as there is no public transport here, and it can be 20+ miles between settlements.

eh?....do you live on a bloody indian reservation?

Nope. UK. There are no towns near, a few villages, some hamlets and smaller settlements.

ETA: Settlements rarely have a shop or pub. Just a few houses. But if you get stuck out in bad weather, any of the houses will usually take you in until the weather clears. It's the way it's been done for centuries here.

Out of interest, I picked up a chap a few weeks ago who was trying to get to the Torridon Hostel. It was getting dark, so I added 20 miles to my journey to make sure he got there safely. Happens a lot here. Most locals will go out of their way to help folk.

Edited by GetCarter on Thursday 5th December 13:27

Never ceases to amaze me the number of people who live in cities, especially the big one down south, who can't compute that there is no Uber in some places and just can't understand why you wouldn't take public transport to work every day, even when you point out that the walk to the nearest bus stop (let alone railway, etc) is actually only about 200m shorter than than the walk to work would be...

[Donotgogentle]

Rude-boy said:

Never ceases to amaze me the number of people who live in cities, especially the big one down south, who can't compute that there is no Uber in some places...

I'm not that far from "civilisation" but have had a few waifs and strays knock my door primarily because their cars have broken down- so far always women.

I usually work on the basis, what would I hope someone would do for my daughter / sister / wife.

So I haven't murdered any yet.

[borcy]

Rude-boy said:

GetCarter said:

zeb said:

GetCarter said:

Regularly - almost every time I see them.

Partly as there is no public transport here, and it can be 20+ miles between settlements.

eh?....do you live on a bloody indian reservation?

Nope. UK. There are no towns near, a few villages, some hamlets and smaller settlements.

ETA: Settlements rarely have a shop or pub. Just a few houses. But if you get stuck out in bad weather, any of the houses will usually take you in until the weather clears. It's the way it's been done for centuries here.

Out of interest, I picked up a chap a few weeks ago who was trying to get to the Torridon Hostel. It was getting dark, so I added 20 miles to my journey to make sure he got there safely. Happens a lot here. Most locals will go out of their way to help folk.

Edited by GetCarter on Thursday 5th December 13:27

Never ceases to amaze me the number of people who live in cities, especially the big one down south, who can't compute that there is no Uber in some places and just can't understand why you wouldn't take public transport to work every day, even when you point out that the walk to the nearest bus stop (let alone railway, etc) is actually only about 200m shorter than than the walk to work would be...

Perhaps it was the use of the word, settlements, it did make me think of someone describing somewhere abroad. It's not really a commonly used word

[GetCarter]

borcy said:

Rude-boy said:

GetCarter said:

zeb said:

GetCarter said:

Regularly - almost every time I see them.

Partly as there is no public transport here, and it can be 20+ miles between settlements.

eh?....do you live on a bloody indian reservation?

Nope. UK. There are no towns near, a few villages, some hamlets and smaller settlements.

ETA: Settlements rarely have a shop or pub. Just a few houses. But if you get stuck out in bad weather, any of the houses will usually take you in until the weather clears. It's the way it's been done for centuries here.

Out of interest, I picked up a chap a few weeks ago who was trying to get to the Torridon Hostel. It was getting dark, so I added 20 miles to my journey to make sure he got there safely. Happens a lot here. Most locals will go out of their way to help folk.

Edited by GetCarter on Thursday 5th December 13:27

Never ceases to amaze me the number of people who live in cities, especially the big one down south, who can't compute that there is no Uber in some places and just can't understand why you wouldn't take public transport to work every day, even when you point out that the walk to the nearest bus stop (let alone railway, etc) is actually only about 200m shorter than than the walk to work would be...

Perhaps it was the use of the word, settlements, it did make me think of someone describing somewhere abroad. It's not really a commonly used word

That's a fair comment. I'm a Londoner and would never have used the term down south - but up here it's a common expression.

Having said that, metropolitan land often has no idea what life is like this far north. They think north is Liverpool! We have a population density of less than 2 people per square k.

ETA... Off topic, in 20 years, I've yet to find anyone who locks their car! (There's never been any sort of crime of any sort registered in my postcode).

Edited by GetCarter on Friday 6th December 13:27

[Superchickenn]

dirty doug said:

Superchickenn said:

On a road trip last year after driving back from Germany via Belgium and heading to the port on France I spotted a hitchhiker.. He was stood at the port with an England sign...

We were a 3 car convoy with only one person per car and walkie talkies..

Anyways I stopped and offered a lift.. It was a German guy who was heading to Liverpool (but out of our way as we were going to South Wales but the ferry people wouldn't let him on as a foot passenger.. In fact their advice to the guy was go and find a push bike and then we will let you on.. Such a mad rule.

The port let him jump in my car and board the ferry at no extra cost.. During this time however we all had walkie talkies with ear pieces on and my mates were saying things like "he's gonna murder you"..

During the ferry trip we helped the guy locate a train station and a train to catch which was less than 10 mins from the port.. We had 20 mins from the ferry port at Dover to the train station but the ferry was delayed for un known reasons.. Anyways the doors opened and I had 6 mins or so to do a 10 min journey..

Needless to say I got him to station as the train was about to leave to which he lept out of the car and I assume caught the train..

Twas only when I got home I found the sign he left behind in my car



Overall I didn't die

Did he steal your headlining though?

I wondered where that went !!

[Mort7]

I've done it a few times many years ago. First time was late '70s. I was on my bike and saw someone hitching with a helmet, so gave him a lift. He looked a bit white when I dropped him off, but did say that I'd restored his confidence in 4-strokes.

The second time was in my first car a few years later - a 1963 Mini 850. I picked up a couple of hitchers, and the cheeky buggers both got in the back and spent the whole journey deep in conversation. Not a word of thanks when they got out.

The last time would have been mid '80s. Guy got in the car, wouldn't engage in conversation, and just sat there looking cross. When he got out he slammed the car door as hard as he could. No idea why.

I would never do it now. Too much knife crime to invite a complete stranger into my car.

[mikal83]

Yes I do thats because we are nice here in Cornwall