Usually I don't ask lifts from strangers, but it has happened once or twice in the past. Asking a lift to someone we know is another thing, especially if we are going on a long trip and we can share costs, it's the best. Do you usually ask for lifts to someone you don't know or just to people you know?
Not any more. When we were kids, I remember we'd stop any car and ask the driver for a lift. Good thing is back in those days there weren't too many psychos so you'd trust that the stranger wouldn't hurt you. We even had cops give us a lift at one time. These days unless someone offers me a lift, I won't ask for it. Pride? No. Force of habit.
Even if I have a car, I still find myself getting a lift sometimes when going on a long trip. Saves me a lot of gas. Of course, I just hitch a ride from someone I really know. I don't wanna get a lot from strangers. I've watched one too many slasher movies to know that this is a bad idea.
Funny things is 20 or 30 years ago getting a lift from a stranger didn't mean you were risking your life. If you were lucky you'd even get a 3,000 mile ride in a truck and other perks like food, etc just because the truckers badly needed company. But these days, unless you are armed then asking a stranger for a life could mean you'd end up being one of those missing people . . . just another statistic.
That is so true Denis, things have changed a lot in the past decades and now taking a lift from someone can be life risking indeed. I do recall those times when I took a lift as good days, but I don't think I would do it again these days.
I think it would have to be a very drastic situation before I would accept a ride from a stranger, especially in this day and age. I remember when people that needed to go cross-country, or even across the state would just go to a local truck-stop and ask truck drivers for a ride, and offer them some cash for the trip. It usually worked out well for both the truck driver and the rider, because it was cheaper to pay the truck driver than to take the bus or train. Once , many years ago, I was taking a couple of friends to Utah to see his father, andwe were leaving from Washington State. So, it was a long trip, but not like going all the way across the country. Well, a few hours away from home, my truck broke down, and the three of us were stranded. It seemed safer to keep us two ladies together, so Al caught a ride withone truck driver that stopped to help us, and Sherry and I rode back home with the next one. It was a long night, but it would have been a lot worse if we hadn't had the truck drivers offer to help us.
That is not even the question in the first place, to have a lift we should be asking for it, if I was walking along the road and someone offered me a ride I'd find suspicious as well, but if I am the one asking it's a totally different situation.
I have never asked for a lift from a stranger. I have had lifts from people that I didn't know - or hadn't met prior to the life - through other friends who did, in fact, know who these people were. I was wary in each situation, because it's not good enough for my friends to know and trust a person. I must too, in order to feel comfortable. But other than those few encounters, I have never asked a stranger to give me a lift somewhere, though I am certain that if I was desperate enough, I would definitely ask a stranger. I'd have to make sure that my request was in keeping with what they were already doing though - like, I wouldn't ask them to go out of their way for me, unless really desperate.
That one time I did get those lifts it was a great experience, looking back now I know we were simply lucky because we could have caught some bad people, but as we didn't it was a great experience and we did it all for free.
