But hey, I'm still alive!

[quidditchgrrl]

Yesterday, I did something stupid, or at least ill-advised.  I picked up a hitchhiker.

Poor guy needed a ride from Graceland to the 5th Avenue Kroger.  He was well-dressed and a little shorter than me.  I figured I could take 'im.

We spent the 20-minute ride talking about his son (nice kid), his ex-wife (they get along for the sake of the kid), Jesus (he believes, I'm neutral), and moving down South (because you know where you stand with the white folks).

I used to pick up hitchhikers quite a bit when I first started driving.  Yeah, yeah, I know.  But the world is so much safer now (think about 1995 vs. 2005 - see what I mean?) and how many times does a nicely-dressed person ask for a ride?  And how often are they not Ted Bundy?  See what I mean?

Comments

[annearchy.livejournal.com]

Hmmm you're right. Don't often see someone nicely dressed asking for a ride. And he wasn't Ted Bundy. Whew.

[instantramen]

Just make sure you tell us if one of those hitchhikers turns out to be a phantom, okay? ;)

[poconell.livejournal.com]

I've picked up a few recently.

A young couple who had just jumped on a train car and stowed away from the interior. They had a basket of puppies with them, (apparently they were found abandoned) and needed a lift to the closest SPCA, then downtown. I was heading there anyway.

Another time, I was pulling out of the hospital parking lot at 1:00 AM, and a pregnant woman, from a very bad end of town was just released from the Women's Heath Centre ER. She had no money, no ride home, the buses had stopped running, and they basically just kicked her out. I gave her a lift, then phoned the ward the next day to tell their manager that this woman should have got a taxi voucher. That's why we pay taxes for God's sake!

[queenkatieett.livejournal.com]

You're my hero! I always want to pick up hitchhikers but don't have the guts.

Although, I think I'd have a right to be scared of anyone going to the 5th Ave. Kroger.

Is the world safer now than it was it 1995?

[quidditchgrrl.livejournal.com]

I think so. The level of gang and drug activity (and with that, violent crime) is way down from 1995.

I remember when you could drive through the Short North and it was all abandoned buildings and prostitutes, and later when the 5th Street Gang ran the streets and used to come into the place where I worked (UDF at Hudson and Indianola) and chat me up with their piece stuck in the waistband of their pants. Uzi Alley was really well named & not just a footnote to urban redevelopment. And wow, when was the last time you heard of people being carjacked at Columbus State?

Now I'm almost nostalgic for the bad old days.