The CBC radio show The Current did a piece yesterday on the return of hitchhiking and invited listeners to call in with their own stories.One was from a helicopter pilot who many years ago was delivering a helicopter out West. On his way he spotted a young couple hitchhiking and on a whim put down and beckoned them. They were reluctant, thinking he was a police officer but he convinced them otherwise. It turned out they were on their honeymoon, heading for Banff. He was flying to Banff and offered them a lift, which they took.Very far out man.
I did a fair amount of hitchhiking in my teen years and could tell some strange and wonderful stories of those who picked me up. When I was first ordained and sent to Newfoundland I became the hitch-hikee rather than the hitch-hiker. You just didn't pass people by on some of those lonely roads. I gave up stopping when we started a family.
Wife Ruth and I hitchhiked once -- her only occasion -- at the end of a canoe trip in Lake Superior park. We had to get back to our vehicle at our put-in spot. She was surprised that so many cars passed us by, until a couple of young women in a beat up old sedan gave us a ride. I found that it was often the people just a step or two removed from needing to hitch who would extend mercy to someone with his thumb out.
There is a risk to hitchhiking, both for the thumber and the driver. That's probably what brought the considerable wave of hitchhikers in the sixties and seventies to an end. Picking someone up is an act of hospitality and most hospitality has a cost of some kind. But the New Testament book called Hebrews encourages hospitality because we may end up entertaining angels.
Did you ever hitch-hike? Would you pick someone up? Would you consider yourself hospitable?
7 comments:
Like you I stopped picking up hitchhikers when we became a family.
I did pick up a young guy on my way to Thunerbay years ago.
He was on some kind of youth exchange. A group of Canadian kids had gone to Switzerland, and stayed with families there. He took a shine to this girl from Winnepeg. When they came back to Canada he was billeted with a family in Montreal. He looked at a map of Canada, and decided to hitch out to Winnepeg to surprise her on the weekend. I picked him up Sunday afternoon, and he was still heading west. I drove him from Cochrane to Thunderbay. About 800km he asked how much farther, and I couldn't tell him since I've never driven that far. He said the 800k was like driving across, and half way back of his country.
Yes Canada is big;)
I can see you, and Ruth in the picture, but who are the other 2?
You were still growing then I guess:)
The old man did it once or twice when we were kids. Oddly enough, they ususally ended up being young adults that he'd taught as kids back in the day.
Small world!
As a senior, single woman, I would be too scared to pick up a hitch hiker, or to hitch hike.
You know, I probably did look like that forty years ago sjd! I'm tryin to imagine you'd dad hitchhiking Ian. I'm sure there are safer bets for adventure Judy -skydiving maybe?
I can just imagine David hitch-hiking 40 years ago. People driving by were probably saying, "hey, that was John Lennon we just passed!".
Think I will pass on the skydiving, David - imagining it is enough adventure for me! (Besides, just driving the 401, when packed with big transports, gets my heart racing!) ;-)
Post a Comment