Dear Covers:

Remember hitchhiking? It is now a thing of the past. I remember giving a ride to some hitchhikers many years ago. Then I stopped doing that after I started hearing horror stories - about hitchhikers attacking those who gave them a ride - not the other way around as the following story suggests.

To quote from the article: So, what killed hitchhiking? The answers may be as complex as that swirly pattern on your thumb.

Robert Thompson, popular culture expert and professor of media and culture at Syracuse University, believes three things are responsible.

"The interstate highway system took over as the principal route of long-distance travel, and hitchhiking was forbidden on these well-patrolled throughways," Thompson said. "Law enforcement in many communities began taking a less casual approach to hitchhikers." Finally, he said, "a generation of paranoid horror tales of what can happen if you hitchhike scared the 'bejesus' out of most people who might otherwise have taken up this unique form of ad hoc carpooling."

Any other thoughts? Would you hitchhike yourself, or let your kids do it?

Charmed

I've been hitchhicking a lot of times in the past 5 years, and always felt quite safe. Some of these times I had been around backpacking and sleeping in youth hostels for some days, so I wasn't probably really nice to look at, but I always found someone that gave me a lift... As a "tool", shaving and smiling is always a good advice. Or hitchhiking with a nice girl, obviously. :D

In old Europe, in my experience, there's quite a big difference in attitudes between North and South. I've been successfully doing it in Germany, England, Scotland, Norway, Belgium. Not the same in Italy and Spain, where I walked for kilometers, as an hitchhikers is often considered a "junky".

I guess this could happen because of a "generational" issue. My parents, now in their fifties, have never done it, and their attitude is quite negative in picking up hitchhikers. On the other side, people which gave me rides were always chatting about them travelling Europe 30 years earlier in the same way. Southern Europeans didn't experience nothing similar, at least not involving a high percentage of young people.

Charmed probably should have clarified that the horror stories about hitchhiking were from the United States. The first response that was received was from Italy and gave a different view.

Americans seem comfortable with hitchhiking around Europe as described by Higgson. The U.S. really does not have youth hostels as far as I know. When I was in Spain, one of the people I was working with would not consider coming to the U.S. because it was so "dangerous". His source of information was all of the crime stories in our movies, television and news organizations. I am not sure if I would want my children to hitchhike but I would definitely want them to be aware of the "less desirable" parts of U.S. cities where they would get into trouble.

Bill Pflanz

I'm not sure whether times and people have changed or whether we have more and quicker sources of knowledge about "horror stories" involving hitchhiking.

For me the age of innocence was lost with two horrific cases in Chicago

Schuessler-Peterson murders (1955)
Grimes Sisters (1956)

These kids were my contemporaries and although not from my own neighborhood, were from comparable neighborhoods. The Grimes sisters were the exact ages of my two girl cousins. We had relatives who lived only a block away from the Grimes family. Until the bodies of the boys were discovered, hitchhiking for kids not old enough to drive and short on cash for bus fare was as common as trick-or-treating all day and all night on Hallowe'en. I never hitched again after the Schuessler-Peterson murders were discovered. The Hallowe'en thing pretty much came to a halt after a flurry of incidents involving children being preyed upon by gangs stealing candy, other children being dragged into homes and dark gangways and being molested. Certain kinds of goodies virtually disappeared after some well-publicized incidents of razor blades and needles being inserted in foods.

Certainly, the Little Red Riding Hood tale (the original gory one) was an attempt to warn and publicize the danger of venturing unprotected where wolves and other evildoers could prey on the traveler.

Slightly before my time, but within the experience and memory of my aunts and uncles, during the Depression of the 1930's, tens of thousands were wandering the roads, hitching rides with cars and trains. The newsgathering wasn't quite as good then as now, but hundreds of males and females were victimized and brutalized and even murdered, with both ride givers and ride seekers being among the victims. Traveling in pairs or small groups was no protection then or now, if the villain has a weapon.

Charmed probably should have clarified that the horror stories about hitchhiking were from the United States. The first response that was received was from Italy and gave a different view.

Americans seem comfortable with hitchhiking around Europe as described by Higgson.
Bill Pflanz

Yes Bill, I didn't think the first response would be from Italy. I remember holding up my thumb myself, when I ran out of gas on the Mass Turnpike when I was student. Within moments I got a ride and came back with gas to my car. I am also saddened to learn about Wes' recollections.

Times are certainly changing and people will change too with the times. The reality of (high) gas prices and the reality of (low) wages that most American jobs seems to be producing today tell me that hitchhiking will become quite prevelant. I already know many young people who cannot afford a car.

Yes Bill, I didn't think the first response would be from Italy. I remember holding up my thumb myself, when I ran out of gas on the Mass Turnpike when I was student. Within moments I got a ride and came back with gas to my car. I am also saddened to learn about Wes' recollections.

Times are certainly changing and people will change too with the times. The reality of (high) gas prices and the reality of (low) wages that most American jobs seems to be producing today tell me that hitchhiking will become quite prevelant. I already know many young people who cannot afford a car.Affording the car and gas is easy. Affording adequate insurance is a deal killer for most young men and, increasingly, for young women, as the actuarial tables reflect more and more accidents with young drivers as those drivers log more and more miles and hours behind the wheel.

Cell phones are wonderful for relieving my guilt when I see folks stranded with disabled cars. In Illinois, I merely dial *999 and am immediately connected to a service that sends appropriate aid to the stranded party and I don't have to make the choice of offering a ride. If there is an injury or other situation which needs intervention, I can call for help, giving my identity and location and keep the help folks on the line while I go to render help (in case things turn dicey or I need instruction.) This way, I can still be a Good Samaritan and reduce my risk of being caught by a "staged" accident set to lure well-meaning victims.

re: Youth Hostels - America (www.hiayh.org) does have a youth hostel organization. I've been a member off and on over the years, but was never really able to avail myself of its services - usually a conflict between schedules of different groups I belonged to. In the past they expected people to use other transportation than personal cars, relying more on buses, trains etc. I've never really hitchhiked, and have alway been relatively wary of offering rides. I've done it occasionally over the years, but not on a regular basis.