Have you picked up hitchhikers?
06-10-19, 03:27 PM
#26
DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
Re: Have you picked up hitchhikers?
06-12-19, 02:54 AM
#27
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: Have you picked up hitchhikers?
So what do you think has changed in society now? What makes hitchhiking so dangerous now vs. decades past. Is is just crazier now? Are there a lot more serial murders now vs. before? And if so why? Or is it we just hear about it a lot more because of the speed of information?
06-12-19, 07:09 AM
#28
Moderator
Re: Have you picked up hitchhikers?
I think we have a bigger culture of fear today. Whether it's warranted or not - or aimed in the right direction(s) is debatable.
06-12-19, 11:12 AM
#29
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: Have you picked up hitchhikers?
its probably actually safer now since most people have cell phones and are traceable. Also, there are a lot more cameras everywhere.
06-12-19, 12:12 PM
#30
DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
Re: Have you picked up hitchhikers?
Exactly. People just think it's more dangerous nowadays simply because we've had decades of reminders in media about the risks hitchhiking entails.
06-12-19, 12:37 PM
#31
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Have you picked up hitchhikers?
There are plenty of statistics showing that violent crime is down. But people have become more fearful.
When I was hitchhiking, I hated going to work on Sundays. Church-going people didn't pick up riders. Now everyone acts like those 1980s church-goers.
When I was hitchhiking, I hated going to work on Sundays. Church-going people didn't pick up riders. Now everyone acts like those 1980s church-goers.
06-12-19, 01:16 PM
#32
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Re: Have you picked up hitchhikers?
Ok, fair enough. So would any of the last few posters let their wives, daughters, or sons hitchhike? Or is the world just being paranoid...
Last edited by Giantrobo; 06-14-19 at 08:31 AM.
06-12-19, 05:35 PM
#33
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Have you picked up hitchhikers?
I remember I once picked up two hitchhikers. One said his name was Ford and the other was an odd jittery English bloke in his bathrobe.
06-12-19, 06:43 PM
#34
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: Have you picked up hitchhikers?
Not sure if this counts...
Last summer,, the wife and I went into Chicago to see one of our favorite bands. We were driving around before the show, looking for a place to eat, and saw the bassist and guitarist standing on the sidewalk, looking at a phone, and seeming confused. We called over and asked what was up. They said they were looking for a liquor store on a particular street. We told them to hop in, and took them there and dropped them off. They thanked us for the ride, said they'd walk back.
Last summer,, the wife and I went into Chicago to see one of our favorite bands. We were driving around before the show, looking for a place to eat, and saw the bassist and guitarist standing on the sidewalk, looking at a phone, and seeming confused. We called over and asked what was up. They said they were looking for a liquor store on a particular street. We told them to hop in, and took them there and dropped them off. They thanked us for the ride, said they'd walk back.
06-12-19, 11:19 PM
#35
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: Have you picked up hitchhikers?
Originally Posted by story
I think we have a bigger culture of fear today. Whether it's warranted or not - or aimed in the right direction(s) is debatable.
This is not acceptable today. It wasn't even acceptable to do it back then we just didn't know any better. Yeah we were more carefree in the 70's but that doesn't mean what we did back then was safe. So was it more naivete/we didn't care then or is it more fear now? A lot of people used to not lock their doors back then but now if you don't someone is going to be coming in your door. Even in nice neighborhoods there's still a good amount of crime where there used to not be.
Originally Posted by DaveNinja
its probably actually safer now since most people have cell phones and are traceable. Also, there are a lot more cameras everywhere.
Originally Posted by funkyryno
Exactly. People just think it's more dangerous nowadays simply because we've had decades of reminders in media about the risks hitchhiking entails.
Originally Posted by Giantrobo
Ok, fair enough. So would any of the last few poster let their wives, daughters, or sons hitchhike? Or is the world just being paranoid...
06-13-19, 08:53 AM
#36
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Re: Have you picked up hitchhikers?
In college I would get offers for rides a lot when I was walking. Once I got a ride from Sebastian Bach’s brother, who recognized me from the hotel where I was a waiter (he was a hockey player living there while he played for a local team). Nice guy.
Another time I was walking to a store to get boxes to move. A guy offered a ride, and it was a long walk and a hot day, so I said yes. He took me to his office, where they had a lot of paper boxes, then drove me to my dorm and helped me carry them in. When we were done, he kind of arched his back in an attempt at seduction and asked if there was anything else he could do. I suddenly realized this was all an attempt to pick me up. I apologized and said no.
i went downstairs to meet some friends and my girlfriend. “You’ll never guess what happened, a guy stopped to pick me up and...”
My girlfriend cut in with “He wanted to sleep with you,”
I guess I was pretty clueless.
Another time I was walking to a store to get boxes to move. A guy offered a ride, and it was a long walk and a hot day, so I said yes. He took me to his office, where they had a lot of paper boxes, then drove me to my dorm and helped me carry them in. When we were done, he kind of arched his back in an attempt at seduction and asked if there was anything else he could do. I suddenly realized this was all an attempt to pick me up. I apologized and said no.
i went downstairs to meet some friends and my girlfriend. “You’ll never guess what happened, a guy stopped to pick me up and...”
My girlfriend cut in with “He wanted to sleep with you,”
I guess I was pretty clueless.
06-13-19, 08:51 PM
#38
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Re: Have you picked up hitchhikers?
I used those boxes for several moves. They were good boxes. But not sleeping with a 50-year-old good.
06-13-19, 09:24 PM
#39
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: Have you picked up hitchhikers?
A couple of years ago I was getting gas and a guy approached me saying his truck had broken down and if I could give him a ride. I hesitated but then he offered me $50. The whole time I had him in the car I kept thinking what the hell am I doing. Luckily it worked out but I don’t think I’d ever do it again.
06-14-19, 06:21 AM
#40
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Have you picked up hitchhikers?
My aunt was a hippie in the 60's. She hitchhiked from Rochester, NY to California with her dog. I remember my grandmother had a fit. What could she do? My aunt was an adult. Albeit a dirty, pot smoking, unwashed hippie flowerchild, commie lib. 
We used to do it a little bit in the 70's both hitchiking and picking up hitchhikers. Even by the late 70's it was starting to fall out of favor. More young people had cars. More people were concerned over the danger whether real or imagined.
We used to do it a little bit in the 70's both hitchiking and picking up hitchhikers. Even by the late 70's it was starting to fall out of favor. More young people had cars. More people were concerned over the danger whether real or imagined.
07-21-19, 05:21 PM
#42
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: Have you picked up hitchhikers?
Originally Posted by Deadman31
A couple of years ago I was getting gas and a guy approached me saying his truck had broken down and if I could give him a ride. I hesitated but then he offered me $50. The whole time I had him in the car I kept thinking what the hell am I doing. Luckily it worked out but I don’t think I’d ever do it again.
07-24-19, 08:52 PM
#43
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: Have you picked up hitchhikers?
Originally Posted by dom56
I saw one dude down the road one time, I rolled down the window and saw his face look liked Rutger Hauer. I quickly speed away.
75.
07-26-19, 12:42 AM
#44
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Have you picked up hitchhikers?
Another female who was indoctrinated to never pick up strangers. I did give a ride to a woman at the grocery store to her home after hubs convinced me to. It was five minutes away, at like 9p, but I had seen her inside her broken down car. She then got someone to drive back with her to jump-start her (I had no cables with me at the moment, we had just gotten a new car). If I'm alone in the car or the baby is also in the car, that's a hard no. Hubs and I, he'd probably talk me into it.
07-26-19, 08:06 PM
#46
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Re: Have you picked up hitchhikers?
I gave a rather disheveled woman a ride across town to the rescue mission last weekend. While she did try to beg $20 from me, and try get me to stop at a store so she could beg me to buy her some cigarettes, and try to flirt with me, I was able to keep her calm and deliver her safely to the mission sans detour.
07-26-19, 09:08 PM
#47
Re: Have you picked up hitchhikers?
^ Why take such a risk, especially when you were sure all of those things would likely happen? It just dosen't seem like the brightest thing to do, especially since the woman could have easilly escalated the situation into a dangerous one for you (ie, schizophrenic, off meds, etc).
07-27-19, 01:16 PM
#48
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Have you picked up hitchhikers?
Originally Posted by zyzzle
^ Why take such a risk, especially when you were sure all of those things would likely happen? It just dosen't seem like the brightest thing to do, especially since the woman could have easilly escalated the situation into a dangerous one for you (ie, schizophrenic, off meds, etc).
07-27-19, 09:59 PM
#49
Re: Have you picked up hitchhikers?
Originally Posted by Nick Danger
Never pick up a stranger in your car. Unless you're a Lyft driver. Then it's perfectly safe.
07-28-19, 07:26 AM
#50
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Have you picked up hitchhikers?
Originally Posted by zyzzle
Well.. you've got a point there. But for me it's almost the reverse, I don't want to ride in some sketchy, strange driver's car by using Uber or Lyft... In an emergency, sure, but not routinely, with as much nonchalance as people seem to do so.
