Hitchhiking

Scuid Mhór

Ticktactoe wrote: »

Do people still hitchhike??

I ask this because I saw someone the other day standing by the road with the thumb out looking for a lift. Its been a while since I saw someone hitchhiking.

'do people still hitchhike?'

'i saw someone hitchhiking the other day.'

do people still hitchike ticktactoe? from your experiences logic ensues the answer is yes.

VinnyTGM

Depends on the 'get up' of them

I've never picked up a hitchhiker, you wouldn't know who/what they are.

limklad

No

Yes, from the very old to the young, from lost tourist to locals. I never had a problem with anyone. They are usually grateful for the lift, especially in the countryside where they freely have a conversation on the journey.

az2wp0sye65487

kfallon wrote: »

Picked up a hitchiker the other day....as a thanks he gave me a great guide to the galaxy!!!

Ahhhhhh.... I see what ya did there!

Jelly2 wrote: »

You must be one of the very few women in Ireland who would give a lift to a male stranger while alone in the car.:eek:

She was probably mad horny at the time!

RachPie wrote: »

I'm afraid I have watched too many horror movies to even consider hitchhiking/picking one up.
I'd just keep imagining the axe they have hidden up the leg of their trousers.

That's not the only thing!

Daisy Steiner

Vera Abundant Holster wrote: »

She was probably mad horny at the time!

Care to explain how me picking up a hitcher while I had another passenger in my car makes me "mad horny"?

smash

There should be an option to say "Depends how hot she is"

Ticktactoe

Depends on the 'get up' of them

Giant Squid wrote: »

'do people still hitchhike?'

'i saw someone hitchhiking the other day.'

do people still hitchike ticktactoe? from your experiences logic ensues the answer is yes.

Logic ensues? Seriously...
I hadn't seen someone hitchhiking in years - putting the question out there and questioning the fact is it safe to hitchhike these days?

fearcruach

Up until a few years ago hitchhiking was the only form of transport available to me.

I would definitely pick up hitchhikers if they didn't look dodgy as I remember waiting for hours for a lift.

mar-z

Daisy Steiner wrote: »

Care to explain how me picking up a hitcher while I had another passenger in my car makes me "mad horny"?

Threesome?

I do agree with your point though.

YFlyer

Daisy Steiner wrote: »

Raging now though coz I broke up with that asshole soon after, but never met sexy hitch-hiker again.

Use 'missed connections' on craigslist.org

Micky Dolenz

I pick up hitch-hikers, when they introduce themselves I just say, Mind if I call you number 18, then I laugh a lot and they usually run off screaming.

Absurdum

I passed a guy with his thumb out on the Adamstown Road in Lucan (THAT'S IN DUBLIN, BOGGERS) last week, the traffic lights went red just behind him so I naturally stopped. He thought I was stopping to give him a lift, the dumbass, started walking briskly to the car. Luckily the lights turned green before he got within touching distance so I floored it and left him in a puff of smoke.

Skinfull

I hitchhiked when I had no other form of transport in Ireland, Germany and in Canada and so far I'm still here. I'll pick up a hitchhiker if its not gonna kill me or them by my stopping at some ridiculous junction or if they don't look like they are gonna kill me
Pay it forward / back and all that. :cool:

Seloth

Depends on the 'get up' of them

Ya my Mum and her friends Hithhiked from the very End of Spain all the way back to Cork.

She warns though of how now days its a very diffrent time,that things were diffrent then and not safe now and tbh I'm not going to try and disbeliver her.

I'm to awkward to hitchhike anyway.

ongarboy

I'm old enough to remember seeing loads of hitchhikers in the 1980s, less so in the 90s, hardly any in the 00s and maybe one a year now.

In college (early 90s) a lot of us used to hitch hike home on the Friday evenings to save the bus fare.
Of course during the celtic tiger era - far more students/people in general had their own cars so I'd say increased wealth in Ireland was a big factor in not seeing more hitchhikers now but also culture of suing made most drivers avoid picking up hitchhikers for fear of false accusations.

fryup

Seloth wrote: »

Ya my Mum and her friends Hithhiked from the very End of Spain all the way back to Cork.

She warns though of how now days its a very diffrent time,that things were diffrent then and not safe now and tbh I'm not going to try and disbeliver her.

they were always dangers when hitching, but these days people are alot more aware of the dangers and are not as naive

The_Drums

I've never hitched long distance, but I've hitched home from about 40km away. I get lots of 'Don't hitch-hike, it's dangerous!' from mates but reverse psychology works too well on me...

The last time I did it I got into a dirty-looking white van with a guy who was a bit hippyish looking... and he was lovely! Such a legend, so friendly, even though when we stopped at a hardware shop on the way and he got out all I could think was 'There he goes, off to buy the drill he's going to use to kill me.'
Apart from that, it was a positive experience!

I'm never the driver, so I usually can't persuade people to pick up hitch-hikers up, but I do try.

squod

No

I'm not a snob or a scardy cat so I pick up when I can.

dubtom

No

Used to do it regularly when I delivered stuff in the sticks,only 10 years ago but there seemed a lot more people hitching even then. One time I stopped beside an old lady to ask directions and she jumped in the car and demanded a lift home,luckily she lived close to where I was going.
Perhaps it's more a country thing,if your going to the next town you might as well give someone a lift. I can't remember the last time I saw a hitcher in Dublin.

Rebelheart

No

Leeg17 wrote: »

I like to indicate in towards them, pull in but don't stop, then pull back out again. Love seeing their faces haha

What an arsehole.

mr chips

On the rare occasions that I see someone hitching a lift, I'll usually pick them up. Have even welcomed a couple of French students back to my home to let them have a warm place to sleep for the night. I must have racked up thousands of miles "on the thumb" in my student days (early-mid nineties). Used to hitchhike about 180 miles each way at the weekends to see the girlfriend. Did a bit of it in France/Germany/Austria as well. Never, ever had any bother with anyone that gave me a lift, and to be honest the days where I had to wait longer than about 45 minutes for a lift to anywhere were pretty rare.

A word of warning for the comedians out there - be careful who you decide to piss off! Only on one day did anyone pull the "pretend to stop then drive away again" stunt on me - it was a very cold & icy January day and I had to see somebody in hospital but didn't have the fare, so hitchhiked as usual. To get back home, I stood at a spot where it'd be easy for cars to stop and waited on the snow-covered verge - it wasn't long before the first car stopped, but then pulled away again as I went towards it. Oh well. Then it happened a second time. Then a third.

I think I'm usually a fairly patient & amiable sort, but I generally stand up for myself as well and enough was enough. So I went and got a fist-sized rock, having decided that the next comedian would be getting it through their rear windscreen, and that I'd deal with them if they wanted to make something of it.

The next car that stopped actually picked me up, and dropped me at the corner of my road. :cool:

kelle

No

It was a big thing in Ireland before 20 years ago. I wish I could find a link, but I spotted written in either Lonely Planet or rough Guide to ireland from 1990 that hitchhiking was a way of life in Ireland - it was even common to see families out hitchhiking!

My uncle once gave a lift to a few people going to an event a few miles away, a few of them sat in his trailer!

My work colleague did her training up north, her parents have never driven - every Friday evening would be spent standing at the side of the nearest main road hitching. Loads of them would stand there and they always got lifts eventually! If she had to pay public transport costs, it would have financially crippled her parents.

I'm not sure I would be happy if my children did that (a few years to go before they start college).

mr chips wrote: »

A word of warning for the comedians out there - be careful who you decide to piss off! Only on one day did anyone pull the "pretend to stop then drive away again" stunt on me - it was a very cold & icy January day and I had to see somebody in hospital but didn't have the fare, so hitchhiked as usual. To get back home, I stood at a spot where it'd be easy for cars to stop and waited on the snow-covered verge - it wasn't long before the first car stopped, but then pulled away again as I went towards it. Oh well. Then it happened a second time. Then a third.

I think I'm usually a fairly patient & amiable sort, but I generally stand up for myself as well and enough was enough. So I went and got a fist-sized rock, having decided that the next comedian would be getting it through their rear windscreen, and that I'd deal with them if they wanted to make something of it.

The next car that stopped actually picked me up, and dropped me at the corner of my road. :cool:

That sickens me, it's so bloody cruel - why would anybody do that!

Never mind - what goes around comes around.

Agricola

Depends on the 'get up' of them

Nah. I like to listen to the radio or the MP3 player while driving so talking shíte with some beardy bum doesnt interest me. (They are nearly always beardy bums i find) I do alot of night driving too so ya never what sort you'll pick up.
I was driving through a town late last night actually and an amazing looking petite blonde wobbled out of a pub onto the street in front of me. If she had stuck a thumb out, I would have made an exception.........maybe!

flanno_7hi

No

IT-Guy wrote: »

Not sure where you're living but I'd say you're a little bit on the paranoid side there! Have picked up a few hitchhikers over the last few months, an Israeli couple, a guy on his way home from work, another guy whose bike had gotten a puncture - dropped him to a bike shop and back again. It's grand when you're not under pressure for time and most of them are quite open and talkative, like myself. Certainly had no fear of impending doom or death by boring small talk!

Did they ask to have a look at your passport?

Cheap Thrills!

I would never hitch or pick up a hitchhiker (even another woman) -much too paranoid !!!

mahamageehad

Depends on the 'get up' of them

also a 20 year old woman....amm no defo don't pick up hitchhikers!!! The only exception being passing someone i vaguely know in the rain and pulling in to give em a lift but not random strangers!

itac

As a woman who mostly drives on her own, it's very *very* rare that I pick someone up, maybe one a year, weather pending!

In writing that, I doubt it's likely that everyone I've driven past is out to murder/rape/attack the first person who stops for them, but as another poster said, that paranoia is always there:o

Duggy747

Note to self:

If Rutger Hauer is hitchhiking............don't pick him up!

That was a nasty few days I had with him following me around Lots of people died.

Ticktactoe

Depends on the 'get up' of them

I see posts stating that its 'highly unlikely' that a hitchhiker would be out to kill/harm you. My thought is why take the chance?

You just dont know who you are picking up... I dont know if its paranoia or carefullness.

chiefbrody1974

driving back from dingle to dublin last april and saw this absolute cracker hitchhiking with backpack, tight leggings and boots, seriously no kidding. she looked eastern european. I had my girlfriend in the car and she just threw me a look that made me laff out loud. I couldnt help thinking though, very dodgy indeed, what with all the missing women here as it is. Its like a asking for a new years kiss from hannibla lecter!!!