Friday, May 31, 2013

Curve

Seen here is one of the spans of 295 heading off towards Falmouth. I don't know about your area of the world, but around here, you'd be hard-pressed to find a hitchhiker thumbing on the roads today. I used to do it a lot, every day. As a matter of fact, Dad gave my brother expressed permission to do so. It was how we got to our caddying jobs at Riverside Golf Course. Wow! Have times changed! In this world we live in, can you imagine a parent today suggesting, almost forcing a 13 year old to climb, daily, into total strangers' cars? In all my local experience, I never had an issue with any driver that picked me up. They only asked where we were headed, and once we hit Riverside Street, most golfers who recognized us, pulled over and gave us the final lift. I did make the trip to Western New York one fall. Now, that was a very sketchy trip.

12 comments:

  1. I lived on the shoulder of the road with my thumb out when I was fifteen and sixteen. I did a post last fall about it. Although I would never recommend it today, I am grateful I grew up at a time where I was able to enjoy the excitement of 'catching a ride'.

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  2. It really wasn't safe to hitchhike in the "good ol' days." I remember my dad telling about a friend of his who was hitchhiking in the 1930s and was picked up and killed. Got to admit though, I did a bit of it when younger and even more foolish than I am now! :)

    BTW, I'm posting our website blog: http://www.landlfotos.com/blog.

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  3. I traveled this way too in the late 70ies, last time in early 80ies. HAd problem once only. But today, I would NEVER allow my kids to do that!

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  4. oy! hitchhiking as teens! wow! that would be really scary today!

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  5. Times certainly have changed. My mother always said never get in the car of a stranger and I obeyed her.

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  6. I did it in high school but sure wouldn't now. It really feels like the world has changed a lot.

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  7. The world is quite different in many ways now, but hitchhiking is one of the key ways. I got to and from college by hitchhiking, but I am sure my kids never did and I have not picked up a hitchhiker in years.

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  8. Whoah, yes, astonishing to remember that hitchhiking was not unusual.

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  9. I tried it a few times, once not by choice in the middle of the night in the desert between Arizona and California.

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  10. I did it in college. I remember hitching to classmates' homes in Chicago and Nashville. Unheard of now. The only place I've seen it in recent years is in Ireland, where I guess it's still reasonably safe.

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  11. I did some hitch hiking in my youth with no ill effect. You are right about times changing.

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  12. Israel used to have a trempiada at junctions, a dedicated covered place next to the real bus stop, where soldiers lined up and asked for a "tremp," a lift from drivers. Today with all the danger of soldiers being kidnapped, the army has banned hitchhiking.

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