Hitchhickers?

Rich11

So i driving into the applegreen at lusk going southbound yesterday(friday), around 4, i think, and seen a guy and a girl sitting at the entrance just after the roundabout, with a few suit cases and a cardboard sign saying Dublin.

Was in there for around 20mins and on the way out they were still there.

Never seen any hitchhickers before in Ireland, so would any of you ever pick one up, or have picked a hitchhicker up, or even seen these guys yesterday.

My self, i dont think i ever would

Where To

Two words



Rutger Hauer

Real Life

what you never saw hitchikers in ireland before? i see at least one a day.
i never pick them up do, i just give them a thumbs up like what theyre doing.

Captain Slow IRL

I pass hippies hitching out to the Shell To Sea protests fairly frequently, wouldn't let them in my car though!

MarkR

I've picked up hitchikers quite a few times. Depends on the look of them really. Still waiting on the bikini team to be hitching. Fingers crossed.:)

squod

Rich11 wrote: »

Never seen any hitchhickers before in Ireland,

Ye wha? See them sometimes. Mostly stop and offer a lift. Never been killed by any of them before. You should at least try it once.

keith16

I hope you at least told them that it's 2012 OP.

Colmustard

Nah I would be suspect of the mental stability of any hitchhiker these days.

I usually drive by the ones waving the prostitutes head.

D1stant

I always do if I have room

Hitchhikers are a good sort usually

Alas a dying breed

k.p.h

Its a f**ked up world when people are scared of people just because they are looking or a lift ...

You don't have your own transport.. You must be a freak ...

F**ked up logic really ..

Rich11

Real Life wrote: »

what you never saw hitchikers in ireland before? i see at least one a day.

squod wrote: »

Ye wha?.

No never, not driving very long either....well 2 years:p

ejmaztec

Hitch-hikers used to be everywhere years ago, in Kerry at least, probably because of the lousy public transport system.

On one occasion, me and the missus stopped because we felt sorry for some woman, and she asked us where we were going, and we said Tralee. She then asked us which part of Tralee, and we told her. Our intinerary wasn't good enough and she told us she'd wait for some other car, cheaky git!

..and no, we didn't look like Fred and Rosemary West.:p

Rich11

MarkR wrote: »

Still waiting on the bikini team to be hitching. Fingers crossed.:)

one day............ it'll be like in dumb and dumber:D

Washington Irving

Two words



Don't Panic

Cassidy28

I haven't seen any hitchhikers since the boom started, I forgot they still exist, I might stop if it was a nice looking girl, but if it was a man i would keep on moving and if there was a puddle of water i would soak him.

ejmaztec

Cassidy28 wrote: »

I haven't seen any hitchhikers since the boom started, I forgot they still exist, I might stop if it was a nice looking girl, but if it was a man i would keep on moving and if there was a puddle of water i would soak him.

... if your car broke down fifty yards further on, you'd be in deep sh1t.

Kidchameleon

I stop and just as they are about to open the door I drive off...

Cassidy28

ejmaztec wrote: »

... if your car broke down fifty yards further on, you'd be in deep sh1t.

Yeah i would alright, but you never know he might be a decent chap to give me a helping hand

Rich11

Kidchameleon wrote: »

I stop and just as they are about to open the door I drive off...

lol:D

Fromthetrees

There used to be loads before, haven't seen one in flipping ages.
When we camped in Kerry in our teens we'd thumb a lift everywhere, nobody died or was raped, sure it's grand.
Any one hear the story of an english lad who hitchhiked his way around Ireland with a fridge, heard him on the radio about a year ago and he said they were going to make a film about it.

Zaph

http://www.roundirelandwithafridge.com/

Haven't seen the film, but the book is a great read.

Yawns

There's 1 lad always out on the main road near me looking for a lift into a town 20k/ms away. If you know you need to get to a place 20k/m away on a regular basis, then get the train that goes there or get your own transport.

mike65

They used to be all the rage then we got rich and started to fear anyone who couldn't afford a car. Now no one can afford a car but we still fear.

PizzamanIRL

I don't pick them up because of the awkward silence when you have nothing to say to each other.

MadsL

Real Life wrote: »

what you never saw hitchikers in ireland before? i see at least one a day.
i never pick them up do, i just give them a thumbs up like what theyre doing.

You know that does not mean what you think it means.

I once hitched London to Prague like a boss.

Got a lift from London to Zeebrugge including a slap up meal on the truckers ferry (all food and drink was free)

Walked into the truck stop at Zeebrugge, poured myself a free coffee and asked if anyone was going East.
Where are you heading asks one guy?
Prague.
I'll take you he says.
Great I say, how far east are you going.
I said I'll take you, I'm going through Prague.

Turns out he was a hardcore long-distance driver, London to Istanbul. He used to do London to Iraq before the war. Some great stories out of him.

Abi

I've never picked up a hitch hiker before, but I have often pulled over if I see someone caught in lashing rain. Especially any one elderly.

keith16

Abi wrote: »

I've never picked up a hitch hiker before, but I have often pulled over if I see someone caught in lashing rain. Especially any one elderly.

And then tear off just as they reach for the door?

Rhys Essien

MadsL wrote: »

You know that does not mean what you think it means.

I once hitched London to Prague like a boss.

Got a lift from London to Zeebrugge including a slap up meal on the truckers ferry (all food and drink was free)

Walked into the truck stop at Zeebrugge, poured myself a free coffee and asked if anyone was going East.
Where are you heading asks one guy?
Prague.
I'll take you he says.
Great I say, how far east are you going.
I said I'll take you, I'm going through Prague.

Turns out he was a hardcore long-distance driver, London to Istanbul. He used to do London to Iraq before the war. Some great stories out of him.

Was this the trucker who picked you up by any chance?:D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIJ4yROg7Ng

marzic

I used to hitch-hike like most other young people in the 90's in rural ireland, and when I got a car(1998) I used to give lifts regularly to most having done the cursory long distance security check. Then my attitude changed a bit when I got into my 30's and there were less people doing it, I turned kinda against it unless I knew them, probably coincided with getting married and it not being appropriate to ride give a lift to some tasty Swedish student chick absolutely wringing wet(from the rain:D) on the roadside, so i said "fcukit, get the bus... I'm retired!"
PS
I was thumbing one day and had my cardboard sign with my destination written on it. A lorry was approaching and i stuck out my thumb and held my sign up, as the driver leaned forward in the cab to get a good look I was thinking positive for a lift - then he held up his sign... 'FCUK OFF'... I laughed eventually.

tvnutz

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rb7FgSzeGqg

ejmaztec

PizzamanIRL wrote: »

I don't pick them up because of the awkward silence when you have nothing to say to each other.

You could talk about spongers who never have to pay for anything and cadge free lifts because they think the world owes them a living. That would break the ice a bit.

Abi

keith16 wrote: »

And then tear off just as they reach for the door?

No. They normally refuse and keep a safe distance from the car :pac:

Jester252

I hitchhiked to school once. Sitting in the back of my teacher car getting a lecture on hitchhiking was not the highlight of the trip

Fenian Army

Much easier to hitch a lift outside Dublin, done it quite a bit. Women never stop, farmers tend to stop the most "hop in the trailer lads"

120_Minutes

MadsL wrote: »

You know that does not mean what you think it means.

I once hitched London to Prague like a boss.

Got a lift from London to Zeebrugge including a slap up meal on the truckers ferry (all food and drink was free)

Walked into the truck stop at Zeebrugge, poured myself a free coffee and asked if anyone was going East.
Where are you heading asks one guy?
Prague.
I'll take you he says.
Great I say, how far east are you going.
I said I'll take you, I'm going through Prague.

Turns out he was a hardcore long-distance driver, London to Istanbul. He used to do London to Iraq before the war. Some great stories out of him.

I'd love to have the guts to do that.

elchupanebrey

Stopped for a woman one day. Won't be any bother i thought, she's in her fifties at least. I knew i was in trouble when she tried to get in the sliding door of the van. It turns out she was hammered. She started shouting things like "what the f*** are you saying". The 10km to the next town were a worry, thought she might attack at any minute.

le la rat

PizzamanIRL wrote: »

I don't pick them up because of the awkward silence when you have nothing to say to each other.

This remind me of meself and the wife

will.i.am

I would love to meet Larry Murphy hitching. I say we could have a great chat!!

im invisible

SaulGoode9 wrote: »

Two words



Don't Panic

ah, they're harmless allright.

well, mostly harmless

FloatingVoter

I hitched up and down the highways and byways of Ireland when I was in my teens / early twenties. Nice thing about Ireland is most towns are mainly five to ten miles apart so when picked up by a nut you can get out fast.
It amazes me how people are snobby about hitchers yet think backpacking / gap yearing around the far east is somehow romantic and educational. It is the same bloody thing.

FinnLizzy

Christ, there's some sheltered darlings in AH today!

I started hitching when I was 16 because I wasn't having my parents drive me round all the time, and public transport in the North-West is abysmal.

I didn't tell my parents because I thought they'd be worried, but when I told them how I got to (insert rural village), I was surprised when they said "Didn't think people did that anymore".

I've picked up a few hitch hikers since I got my license, and they're usually good banter.

The hitch hiker should be more worried about who's picking them up than vice versa.

Fulton Crown

Captain Slow IRL wrote: »

I pass hippies hitching out to the Shell To Sea protests fairly frequently, wouldn't let them in my car though!

Would you not..uh...think of giving them a little dunt of your offside fender ?

Just sayin.........

blindside88

I often pick up hitch jokers unless I'm in a real rush to get somewhere. When I was growing up my dad would often pick me up with a couple of hitch hikers in the back. I dropped my car to the garage last week and had him pick me up, there were 2 guys in full at gear sitting in the back of the car, their car ha broken down. U never know when you'll need a hand from a stranger

kincsem

I think hitchhiking is not allowed on motorways which is probably the reason you don't see many.

J Mysterio

First time i ever hitchhiked I ended up buying acid off the guy who gave me a lift. That was awesome.

My car is dead now, but while I had it I would give lifts to people if they looked decent - young people, backpackers etc.

Did never pick up those weird crusty looking country people who looked like they were delivered at the farm. You know, thosr f*ckers who hitch into and out of town everyday kind of thing. Those ****ers can take th bus.

I think, generally, people who pick up hitchhikers have normally hitched at least once themselves. Its like paying back tge favour. Like a club you can talk to the b@stards about.

Stained Class

It was a big thing up to the late '80s.

I thought nothing of doing it.

Back then parents didn't buy cars for their little darlings.:rolleyes:

up for anything

In the late 70s and up till I went to England in the mid 80s I used to hitch everywhere. There wasn't the money for buses and everyone did it. Used to hitch in Dublin during the bus strikes too. Only had two really dodgy experiences. A friend and I hitched from Dublin to Clonmel, to collect my passport, and back to Dublin one summer's day. Arrived back in Dublin at 6pm and decided there was enough time to hitch to her home in Ballinasloe before it got dark.

We made it as far as Athlone and were very pleased to be so close when we got picked up by two guys in a gold Chrysler Alpine (never forgotten the bloody car). They were heading to Galway to some dance and asked us to go along. We refused on the grounds that her parents were expecting us but that we might come along later but they got very insistent. On the outskirts of Ballinsloe she gave me a dig in the ribs, muttered that they'd turned off the main road and at the same time told them to stop messing and to leave us off there. The lad driving laughed and told us that we were going to get what we deserved. They drove us about 15 miles out of the town up byroads and down boreens and finally pulled up in the middle of absolutely nowhere and told us that we should put out or get get. they didn't use that phrase but that was the gist of it. We got out. They drove up the road and we started walking back the way we'd come. A couple of minutes later they sped (is that even a word) back towards us. If we hadn't jumped the ditch they'd have run over us.

We were terrified. Eventually we came to a house and gathered up the courage to knock on the door. Talk about more terror. The whole family came to the door - they were Cletus and Brandine from the Simpsons except there were at least 4 sets of grandparents and had more kids. We felt a bit out of the frying pan into the fire. They gave us lots of funny looks and complicated instructions on the way back to Ballinasloe which was about 13 miles away. We began walking again with dusk closing in. We hadn't listened too well to the instructions because we'd been so tense and nervous. We heard an engine again and panicked that it might be the two in the Chrysler back again but it turned out to be a tractor in a farm yard. We ran towards sound and found a man of about 70 getting out of his tractor. We asked the way to Ballinasloe and he looked at us like we were mad. We explained what had happened and he insisted on driving us back to Ballinasloe. Such a nice man.

Back in the safety of her house we discussed whether we should ring the guards but decided against it in case we had to give names because she'd get into trouble for hitching. She'd told her mother that we'd gotten a lift from a friend. I hope those bastards died in a single car collision before they pulled that stunt again. It didn't put me off hitching though.

charlemont

I was a familiar thumber on the N24 back in the late 90's so I'll always stop for them now, I haven't noticed anyone thumbing in ages though.


My car broke down on the Mitchelstown Ring on Halloween night in 2008 so I thumbed back to Cork because I was too stingy to get a bus, I'd reckon the man who picked me up at the south roundabout is on Boards, So if your reading this thanks, I was stoned in your car by the way !!!

Stained Class

Man with a Merc picks up a Hitchhiker.

Hitchhiker; What's the thing on the bonnet for?

Merc Driver; It's a Gunsight for people I dont like.

HH; Cool, can you show me how it works?

MD; Sure. (Makes convincing machinegun sounds to a cyclist they're overtaking). Dam, I missed.

HH; No prob mate, I got him with the door.

BillyMitchel

Haven't seen any in recent years.

If it was a male I'd leave him but if it was female I'd probably pick her up and let all sorts of pervy fantasies run through my little head.

PeterStrauss The Second

Where To wrote: »

Two words



Rutger Hauer

Hobo stops begging.

Demands Change.