Commutation: The Art of Hitchhiking

If you are hitchhiking for the purpose of having to be somewhere at a particular time then, lets face it, you are rolling the dice of time intervals and luck, as to whether you will make it or not to said destination at the time that you needed to be there. 

Many, many times have I walked to the highway and put my thumb out there signifying in that universal sign language that I, was a person walking on the road that needed a ride, and after several strange and close to traumatizing experiences I became very reluctant to put my thumb out when stepping to the road. 

I don’t see a lot of hitchhikers these days. I see people walking but it’s rare that I see a thumb stuck out there. I have to wonder if anyone even knows what it means anymore or if these days anyone is even in a hurry to get there. Myself, I’m always in a hurry these days it seems like but, I did give up walking and hitchhiking. I traded in my thumb for a car, but not before I mastered the art of hitchhiking.

First, most people really don’t want to pick up someone of the side of the road. When you do this, you set aside a percentage of safe travel, especially if its someone you don’t know. This works vice versa as well. You don’t want to just get in a car with anyone. The percentage of safe travel you set aside is as much so as picking up someone, and as stated before, especially if its someone you don’t know. 

When you climb into a car with someone you don’t know or, let someone into your car then there is always a potential for loss of control of the situation. Those who ride together are bound by a trust equivalent to that of any groups of people occupying the same space whether it’s a car or a house, and once trust is established then it is realized that it is a temporary trust.

My rule of thumb for this is, don’t get in a car with someone that you don’t know or have not already established a safe trust with no matter how harmless they look. I once got in a car with a sweet looking little old lady who took of down a back road at ninety miles an hour, cackling the whole way. She didn’t intend harm other than to scare the crap out of me but, she didn’t intend the lack of harm either. 

Second, if you have a time frame to follow, a set appointment, or you just have to be there on time, you should consider shift schedules. Most people are commuting at the same times every day based on their work or social life. You should know the shift schedules of the local factories, when the schools let out. On the weekend it would help even to know what the show times are at the local movie theatre or, on Sunday what time church lets out. You really don’t won't to get caught out there before church because then they will just try to take you to church with them, unless of course your looking for a ride to church.

In addendum to shift schedules, if you are out there at night, the odds of catching a ride drop by like ninety five percent. Odds are that if your hitchhiking that late then whoever would stop and pick you up isn’t up to no less good than you are being out that late, especially on a Friday or Saturday night.

So, in summation, put the thumb in your pocket, you don’t need it. You just need to close your eyes a moment and listen to the wind, feel for the sun on your face. If your out there at the right time then the right person will pick up, and remember, the world you live in when you are walking the road isn’t the same as the random one you might step into. Be careful about who you get in a car with and likewise. Be careful about who you let in your car because at that moment you have allowed a random world to collide with your own.