Hitchhikers - are they all ax-murderingly crazy - or just misunderstood

I Heart Internet

The petrol scam thread on here at the moment got me thinking about hitchhikers. That, and I passed one (a very well dressed woman in her 50s) yesterday. I've never picked up a hitchhiker. But I always feel that I should and feel bad about it afterwards.

I would genuinely like to give people a lift if I could but there's always a part of me that says they'll be ax-murderers or worse, have terrible BO.

But then I guess the people hitchhiking are in the same boat (so to speak), they don't know who's car they're getting into.

What are people's experiences of picking up hitchhikers or hitchhiking themselves.

MagicSean

There's an e in axe.

neil_hosey

i picked 2 up in lucan because i was lost when i had 2 friends in the car when i was 17. First car and was driving to maynooth to fish the canal.

They were the 2 weirdest ****ers i had ever met in my life. One was asleep within 5 minutes. The other sitting right behind me talking about weird shít, wit me shíting myself that he was going to wrap a rope around my neck.

never again.

Fluorescence

People seem much happier to give lifts to hitchhikers in the countryside. Not so much around the big towns or cities...

seamus

Well you know that if someone is hitchhiking that they're going to be a little bit odd. Because you have to be an odd person to stand at the side of the road begging for a lift.

From what I understand, it was a fairly common thing to do in the wesht in the 70's, 80's and 90's to hitch yourself to/from the nearest town as most drivers would be someone who knows you, but nowadays only people who don't want to pay or who can't afford a bus are going to hitch.

admiralofthefleet

they're not all murderers, some are merely rapists

MrStuffins

MagicSean wrote: »

There's an e in axe.

Who ax'd you?

Immaculate Pasta

They're just misunderstood. People are too paranoid and scared of strangers these days thanks to the information age and sensationalist media. :cool:

hondasam

It's rare you see people hitching now, odd few. I have done it myself long time ago and I have picked people up, I would judge them by what they are wearing and think ya there are ok.

SEPT 23 1989

Years ago there used to be lines of people at Newlands Cross holding up cardboard with their required destinations written on them

syklops

Surely for a hitch-hiker to be an axe murderer, he would have to be wielding an axe?

So don't pick up the ones with axes.

Well you know that if someone is hitchhiking that they're going to be a little bit odd. Because you have to be an odd person to stand at the side of the road begging for a lift.

I used to live 30 mins from Galway city and there was only a bus once every hour. So if I missed it, I would stick the thumb out. Got a lift most days before the next bus came. To be avoided during winter though.

elvis99

I hitchhike to college when I'm really broke great way to get around when I'm desperate, and ya meet some really cool people, in return I'd be the first person to pick up a hitchhiker except of course if there scummers or crazy looking.

I picked up one along the way last week. He was hitching a ride home after being brought to the hospital in my locale the previous day. An old-timer he was, unkempt, by his own admission a demon for the drink and was just a step above homeless living in a halfway house. It was a grounding, poignant experience that could easily turn into a tl:dr here. Apart from him I've seen a few around lately, people will always need to get from A to B whether they haves the means or not. Thankfully i'm not quite there yet myself:o

I Heart Internet

hondasam wrote: »

It's rare you see people hitching now, odd few.

I've seen much more in the last few years.

Some I immediately regret not giving a lift to. Like the girl one morning - ridiculously hot and in the tightest green pants I've ever seen.

Of course we all remember what happened Stephen Brennan in Glenroe when he stopped to pick up a good-looking girl.

MrStuffins

I Heart Internet wrote: »

I've seen much more in the last few years.

Some I immediately regret not giving a lift to. Like the girl one morning - ridiculously hot and in the tightest green pants I've ever seen.

Of course we all remember what happened Stephen Brennan in Glenroe when he stopped to pick up a good-looking girl.

He pulled a muscle in his back?

hondasam

I Heart Internet wrote: »

I've seen much more in the last few years.

Some I immediately regret not giving a lift to. Like the girl one morning - ridiculously hot and in the tightest green pants I've ever seen.

Of course we all remember what happened Stephen Brennan in Glenroe when he stopped to pick up a good-looking girl.

There are a few more now all right.

Stephen Brennan Glenroe ? no idea sorry.

My name is URL

You're far far more likely to be murdered while just normally going about your day than you are by a hitch-hiker. There's also evidence which suggests that you're less likely to be involved in an accident while carrying a hitch-hiker.

Penn

Only rule I really have is that if the hitchhiker is just standing with their arm and thumb out, they're not getting a lift. If they're making an effort to at least walk to their destination while looking for a lift, I might pick them up.

vicwatson

Bunch of crusties - get a job and pay your own way - Bah!

Peetrik

It was a very common practise where I grew up. I lived 4 miles from the bus stop and it being Ireland, chances were it would be raining. I would regularly hitch to the bus stop and when I got old enough to drive I would regularly give lifts to other hitchhikers I saw.

As was said though, it was usually from other locals who recognised me, worst thing that every happened to me was a twenty minuite lecture on letting Jesus into my life... ugh.

I Heart Internet

hondasam wrote: »

Stephen Brennan Glenroe ? no idea sorry.

Stephen Brennan gave a lift to a group of girls who turned out to be skangers down from Dublin. They mugged him and beat him up and (I seem to remember) attempted to put make-up on him. For a stiff-upper lip fella like Stephen it was too much to bear. He had to let on to everyone that it was a group of fellas that attacked him.

Come to think of it.....this is probably the main reason I don't give lifts to strangers - enforced transvestism.

CardBordWindow

I only ever hitched once. Had my thumb out for about 30 seconds, and both cars that passed me stopped!

A friend of mine,Bill, was hitching in Galway a few years ago, and was picked up by a drunk-driver!! They guy was so hammered, that Bill had to take the wheel. The drunk guy, once in the passenger seat, then fell asleep and couldn't be woken, so Bill ended up bringing him to a hostel, as he couldn't find out where the guy lived!

Moral of the story: It's not just hitch-hikers that can be nutters.

hondasam

I Heart Internet wrote: »

Stephen Brennan gave a lift to a group of girls who turned out to be skangers down from Dublin. They mugged him and beat him up and (I seem to remember) attempted to put make-up on him. For a stiff-upper lip fella like Stephen it was too much to bear. He had to let on to everyone that it was a group of fellas that attacked him.

Come to think of it.....this is probably the main reason I don't give lifts to strangers - enforced transvestism.

Oh ok, I never seen glenroe, I now think I have missed out on something great.

I Heart Internet

hondasam wrote: »

Oh ok, I never seen glenroe, I now think I have missed out on something great.

The Tallifornia of our youth.

gamgsam

I hitchhiked from Falston Maryland to Lynchburg Virginia (nearly 250 miles) after my leaving cert. I met some odd odd people, and I'm sure I was perceived as an odd person just as frequently. Fairly hard to get a lift thumbing in the states, most lifts were organised on craigslist beforehand, however a good few were got by normal hitchhiking. One of the best things I ever did. The blarney stone isn't a patch on the lesson in gabby I got

johnners2981

When I was younger I was getting a lift home with my aunt and we see some hitchhiker on the road. She asked if I knew him and I say yes not thinking she'd stop but she does, she pulls in a bit ahead of him.

I can see the guy running up to the car and that's when I tell her I've never seen him before, you should of seen the look of pure horror on her face and just when the poor bastard reaches the car she speeds off

Nothingbetter2d

admiralofthefleet wrote: »

they're not all murderers, some are merely rapists

some are greedy fecker and do both... Larry?

Nothingbetter2d

hondasam wrote: »

Oh ok, I never seen glenroe, I now think I have missed out on something great.

nope ya didn't....glenroe was crap... full of bogmen in wellies

Pompous

I went hitchhiking along the west coast a couple years ago, trying to get to the Rossport Solidarity Camp. People were fairly quick to give a lift, about 30-50% of people would stop, and me and my friend looked like a couple of weirdo hippies. One guy even gave us a lift across a fiord in his row-boat! People on the west coast are friendly. City people, not so much.

Beruthiel

seamus wrote: »

Well you know that if someone is hitchhiking that they're going to be a little bit odd. Because you have to be an odd person to stand at the side of the road begging for a lift.

I'll have you know Mister, that I'm not the remotest bit weird!
Back in the 80's, having feck all money, I hitched everywhere down the West.
To night clubs in other towns, cinema, visit friends.
When I moved to Dublin, I'd hitch home to see the Auld Pair.
In all the lifts I got, not one of them was weird.

castletownman

My brother regularly plays a game whereby he stops a couple of yards ahead of a hitch-hiker and then speeds off as soon as they arrive to the car. Never gets old

pickarooney

I've hitchhiked over 1000km on a few occasions but just standing on the side of the road hoping is a mug's game. Go to petrol stations and ask people politely and you'll have much more luck.

I did see a guy hitching the other day, though, with a piece of cardboard saying: HisDestination, €10 which I thought was decent.

Cú Giobach

hondasam wrote: »

It's rare you see people hitching now, odd few. I have done it myself long time ago and I have picked people up, I would judge them by what they are wearing and think ya there are ok.

You'd probably end up picking up Jeffrey Dahmer, and leaving Jesus standing.


I used to love hitching around the country for fun, it was a brilliant way of meeting people and getting to know areas, every journey was one big adventure.
Ah..... memories of the queues and etiquette surrounding it.

hondasam

Cú Giobach wrote: »

You'd probably end up picking up Jeffrey Dahmer, and leaving Jesus standing.


I used to love hitching around the country for fun, it was a brilliant way of meeting people and getting to know areas, every journey was one big adventure.
Ah..... memories of the queues and etiquette surrounding it.

He only killed boys, I'm a girl I would be safe.
The etiquette LOL brings back memories, first in queue got first lift unless you knew someone and they passed the first person and carried you.:D
I would not have the nerve to do it now.

Cú Giobach

hondasam wrote: »

He only killed boys, I'm a girl I would be safe.
The etiquette LOL brings back memories, first in queue got first lift unless you knew someone and they passed the first person and carried you.:D
I would not have the nerve to do it now.

Some drivers pick people up because they have a rucksack and because I always had one on my trips (and a sign) often I'd get picked up from the back of the queue (they probably thought I was foreign and exotic, only to be greeted with a hows it going boy), I can still see the withering looks on the faces of the students and non-rucksacky people further up, as I settled into my comfy seat accelerating past them.

cartell_best

The last time I hitched (where I come from its called thumbed) a lift was from Clonmel to New Ross (a good few years ago). A van gave me a lift and in it were 2 (what looked like builders). They had hot whisky diluted with water in a large plastic bottle. By the time we reached New Ross I was in oblivion. Seriously messed up but haven't forgotten it to this day. It still brings a smile to my face.

Nowadays, I seldom pick up hitchhikers just in case, because what comes across my mind is if I have an accident or they "trip" gettiung out of the car, I'll have an insurance claim against me straight away.

I Heart Internet

Thanks for the stories.

So the question is - should I give a lift to the next hitchhiker I see??

--Kaiser--

seamus wrote: »

Well you know that if someone is hitchhiking that they're going to be a little bit odd. Because you have to be an odd person to stand at the side of the road begging for a lift.

They're not always odd, sometimes they're just tourists on holiday and want some free transport. I've picked up a few before (all female and obviously tourists)

cynder

I used to hitch hike a lot as a teen (14/15) up until around age 23 i had a few oddballs pick me up but nothing serious ever happened. It was my only means of travel as buses were few and far between.

I have never picked up a hitch hiker and i feel guilty passing them, i wont pick up scruffy dressed people or men, i would pick up a well dressed woman or a well dressed teen (male or female) if the kids arent in the car with me. Never seem to pass one though.

Im female.

Lando Griffin

grindelwald wrote: »

I used to hitch hike a lot as a teen (14/15) up until around age 23 i had a few oddballs pick me up but nothing serious ever happened. It was my only means of travel as buses were few and far between.

I have never picked up a hitch hiker and i feel guilty passing them, i wont pick up scruffy dressed people or men, i would pick up a well dressed woman or a well dressed teen (male or female) if the kids arent in the car with me. Never seem to pass one though.

Im female.

Thats the typical Celtic tiger attitude that has us where we are today. The better dressed probably can afford to take a bus, but it a lifestyle choice they make by hitching, thereby taking valuable hitching position form some low life badly dressed bum whose lifestyle has been imposed on him.

cynder

Lando Griffin wrote: »

Thats the typical Celtic tiger attitude that has us where we are today. The better dressed probably can afford to take a bus, but it a lifestyle choice they make by hitching, thereby taking valuable hitching position form some low life badly dressed bum whose lifestyle has been imposed on him.

No, I always dressed smart, be it dunnes clothes or whatever, I would never dress scruffy. I would never pick up a scruffy person. My dad wasn't the neatest guy but always made an effort if hitch hiking and he passed that on to us kids. You won't get a lift if you look like a tramp.

Ellis Dee

I hitch-hiked all over Europe in the 1960s and met some very nice people, never weirdos.:)

Later in life, when I had a car of my own and drove all over Ireland, I usually stopped for hitch-hikers unless they were utterly weird-looking, and never had any experience worse that a student bumming a fag off me. However, I once stopped for a woman just outside Kildare town and she almost immediately started asking me if I had "any dosh" and wanted a bit of fun. Turned out she was "Diesel Annie", a well-known ride who mainly sold her services to truck drivers. I told her no, stopped and let her out. Otherwise, I never regretted giving people a lift. What goes round comes round.:D

b.harte

I used to hitch from Newlands cross to Cork a lot in the early 90's to safe my money for drink & stuff. I was on apprentice wages of about £45 and the train fair was about £20 so that was a no-no. I used to have a sign "New-York (OR CORK)" can't ever remember not getting a lift.
A few times I didn't get a lift all the way but ended up somewhere along the way. The old turnpike turn-off a Thurles was a hole of a place to get a lift from, just got trolleyed in the pub there instead before trying when the traffic calmed.
I met some interesting people, I was even seconded into being entertainment for two kids in the back seat of a car so the parents up front didn't have to deal with it, got an ice-cream for my troubles :)
The best bit was all the alternative routes to Cork while the various bypasses were being built, when I eventually got a car I knew all the roads to dodge traffic, check points etc. Still prefer to use the older routes.
Nicest ice-cream ever was in a place in Stradbally, wouldn't have found that without hitching.

My car's engine blew up in Australia miles from anywhere, I had to hitch back to Sydney with all my belongings, including surfboard. The same weekend that Peter Falconio "went missing", not too many people keen on stopping. Eventually got a lift from an english couple in a vintage peugeot, fierce nice. Dropped me in Ghetto Central for a train connection.

I also picked up a hitch-hiker in North Arizona. I was driving back to Phoenix from Las-Vegas on my own. He was in a little town in the middle of nowhere. Told me his buddy and himself won some money on horses and were going to Vegas, got caught speeding and the buddy had a few outstandings so he got arrested and car impounded, leaving the other lad stuck.
Not sure if it was true, don't care, he was a nice enough lad. Dropped him off and he told me about all the party spots around the collages. Told me the name of a collage hotspot in Tempe, went there with some others from Work that weekend, great nights.

Worst ever was a buddy and me getting a lift from Newbridge to Dublin with a french lad, who when spotting a garage on the RIGHT HAND SIDE of the (then) carriageway, turned across the median break into oncoming lane, thank fcuk there was no traffic.

So not all psychos.

And yes, I have noticed lately that there are a lot of people hitching, what ever the reason. I've a people carrier now with permanent child seats so only have the front seat. No one uses signs any more either.

Fighting Irish

Peetrik wrote: »

It was a very common practise where I grew up. I lived 4 miles from the bus stop and it being Ireland, chances were it would be raining. I would regularly hitch to the bus stop and when I got old enough to drive I would regularly give lifts to other hitchhikers I saw.

As was said though, it was usually from other locals who recognised me, worst thing that every happened to me was a twenty minuite lecture on letting Jesus into my life... ugh.

4 miles took 20 minutes, wtf was he driving?

Collie D

fluorescence wrote: »

People seem much happier to give lifts to hitchhikers in the countryside. Not so much around the big towns or cities...

Picking up hitch-hikers in a city would be a huge no-no. If you did then the only people you should fear would be the taxi drivers complaing about you taking away their business.

dotsman

R P McMurphy

In a moment of madness a while back I gave a lift to someone as it was raining, what a mistake, coughing and sneezing all the way. Thought he was gonna give me the pox

Fluorescence

Collie D wrote: »

Picking up hitch-hikers in a city would be a huge no-no. If you did then the only people you should fear would be the taxi drivers complaing about you taking away their business.

I didn't mean in a city, I meant that the closer you are to a main town or city, the less likely cars are to pick up hitchhikers

hondasam

fluorescence wrote: »

I didn't mean in a city, I meant that the closer you are to a main town or city, the less likely cars are to pick up hitchhikers

You will usually see them on the outskirts or the city or town hitching out of the city obviously.

TPD

The last and first and only time I've hitched, me and a couple of friends were going about 30km to a friends house. Ended up in the car with a guy with a very scarred and disfigured face, with satsuma oranges strewn all about the floor and a very orangey scent. He was telling us about how he recently came back from London, and having just seen a Tommy Tiernan sketch describing a vaguely similar occurrence, we named him 'Oranges from London'.

Think he got in a bit of bother a few years later, after a spell in the local council, for keeping or hiring illegal immigrants, or something similar.

I don't drive (yet), but I'd imagine I'd pick up the odd hot or interesting looking hitchhiker :P

meoklmrk91

Because my mam didn't drive and my dad worked all the hours that he could my childhood was spent thumbing. If I or one of my sibings was sick and they couldn't afford the bus we would be standing out hoping that someone would come on to take us to the doctor and the same coming home. And this was the 90's, most of the time someone we knew would come on and pick us up. Other than that it was usually business men that were travelling and seemed to like someone to chat to even just for a few minutes.

I pick up people I know not a bother. I don't pick up strangers because A: I am a girl, and B: if there was an accident I wouldn't like some stranger taking me to the cleaners for a sore neck. It's mostly B that stops me from picking them up.

I have noticed a lot more people thumbing recently, I feel for them, as I know what it is like to be that broke that you can afford the price of a bus ticket. I would never look down on someone for thumbing, sure there are some weirdos, but most of the time its just someone down on their luck or generally struggling.