Reply to: Hitch hiking

[Old Greg]

I saw a couple earlier on my way home, they were on the main trunk road into town holding out a sign that just read 'Tescos' which is about 3 miles from where they stood.

If there was a puddle I'd have swerved to go through it, lazy feckers.

Maybe they were a demonstration demanding a new Tesco's.

[Sysman]

I think people are more wary nowadays that they may get a lift all the way from Barcelona to Glasgow.

That reminds me of the neighbour plus mate who set off for a cycling holiday in France.

They got on the wrong boat and ended up in Morocco.

They ended up working in a bar cum knocking shop and selling funny baccy to Yanks at an enormous profit.

But that was in the 60s.

[gingerjedi]

I saw a couple earlier on my way home, they were on the main trunk road into town holding out a sign that just read 'Tescos' which is about 3 miles from where they stood.

If there was a puddle I'd have swerved to go through it, lazy feckers.

[Cliphead]

I think people are more wary nowadays that they may get a lift all the way from Barcelona to Glasgow.

You could be right...

[Old Greg]

Many years ago the younger and more naive Cliphead would get fed up with whatever boring job I was treading water in and pack a rucksack and just bugger off to the nearest motorway. No clear destination was just happy to go wherever the driver was going and see where I ended up.

Met some very interesting people, met people who became friends, saw places I didn't think I would see and generally had a great time. A very few dodgy experiences but handled easily.

Got a lift in a Rolls Royce, a lift all the way from Barcelona to Glasgow including a free ferry ride, same on a trip back from Ireland by entertaining the crew with country songs, even got a job. It really was almost a lifestyle.

The few times I travel on the motorways I never see hitch hikers, what's changed?

I think people are more wary nowadays that they may get a lift all the way from Barcelona to Glasgow.

[xoggoth]

What a genius you are JoJoGabor! Not that I ever splash out on a curry but next time I order a takeway Piza I shall demand a ride on the moped handlebars.

[JoJoGabor]

If I have had a few beers up in London and get the train back to where I live in the sticks, I often order an Indian takeaway to be delivered, then turn up at the place and ask for a lift home with the delivery. I chuck them a couple of quid, they're happy, I get a ride home and a curry for a tenner... Result! normal taxi is £9

[shaunbhoy]

Looks like Test Manglers wife.... But not quite as hairy.

[MarillionFan]

Second best, shirley?

Looks like Test Manglers wife.... But not quite as hairy.

[shaunbhoy]

Hitching was the best way to get round Arran

Second best, shirley?

[Scrag Meister]

Last time I gave a hitcher a lift, we picked him up in Devon on J27 on M5 and he wanted to go to Stamford Hill. He hit the jackpot as I live in Tottenham.

He was a squatting artist in some dive just off Stamford Hill Broadway.

[xoggoth]

Saw one a few weeks back, first i've seen in years.

In my teens and 20s I hitchhiked all over Europe including to Istanbul and to Iron Curtain countries. Loads of people did.

Best experience, think I've mentioned before, I was illegally sleeping in a shop doorway in Sofia wrapped up in a plastic sheet and a young lady who was caught short mistook me for a pile of rubbish and pissed in my ear. Fantastic!

[Sockpuppet]

I sometimes give hitch hikers a lift. Mostly trade platers as they are the more sane of the bunch. Though most transport companies have made it a sack able offence to collect passengers.

Having said that a few years ago I was at Uni in Cardiff (ok 10 years ago) and I used to come back to Leicester via the Tesco distribution network. There was a Tesco store next to the halls of residence and a big warehouse down the road from where my folks lived and because I used to work for the Tesco warehouse before I went to Uni I usually managed to get a lift back from South Wales to the Midlands with a couple driver so its not totally dead.

Only got into trouble once at a place where the driver got a talking to for picking up passengers other than that ok.

[DimPrawn]

I used to love picking up hitch hikers.

Often reminded of those glorious days whenever I glance at the patio.

[dang65]

I used to hitch-hike quite a lot in the early-mid 80s, but then I learned to drive and got my own car. Only time I've done it since then was during a Tube strike in the early 90s. I think it was an unplanned strike, or may have just been a major system failure or incident. Whatever it was, I wasn't prepared and there were thousands of people waiting for buses and taxis and looking lost. I was at Victoria Station and just walked down the road a bit and stuck my thumb out. Was picked up within a couple of minutes, if that, by a friendly chap who was going through Wandsworth, where I lived, and dropped me off at my house. I don't know if anyone else saw me hitching and had a go themselves. Seemed the obvious thing to do.

On holiday in the Scottish Highlands about five years ago I was amazed to find hitch-hiking alive and well, but obviously the place was full of backpackers anyway. We picked people up a couple of times and they were both foreigners.

It's very odd how hitching just died out so suddenly, while things like 'car pools' and special lanes for cars with more than one occupant were hailed as great new ideas for saving fuel and congestion.

I'd definitely hitch again if the requirement arose, like if I ran out of petrol in the middle of nowhere or something.