Hitchhiker's Requiem

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3-27-2010 @ 6:25PM

jeff said...

anyone who was in the military during the 70's and before, hitched home on furloughs to see family, girlfriends, get a home-cooked meal, sleep. what a great way to see the country. usually someone would spot your G.I. uniform and bag and most would take you out of their way to help you. once a WWI vet bought me breakfast at a great little family-style restaurant outside of Harrisburg--I owed HIM the meal, but he insisted to the point he was beginning to become insulted. Later I found out his son was killed coming back from Korea, not in action, but by accident, hitchhiking. He took me within 50 miles of my home and dropped me off at a greyhound terminal, went in and bought me a ticket. He added two days to my furlough and my parents and girlfriend were thrilled. I slept one of those days.

I don't think a day has gone by in the last 35 years that I haven't thought of him--I found out about his passing eight years after the fact and that's when I found out about his son.

haven't hitched since the mid 70's. like everything else, its a lost art. don't forget vanity fair's song in 1971 "Hitchin' a Ride."

3-27-2010 @ 7:02PM

Bobby said...

Great story Jeff,, I long for those bygone days of innocence & trust when the occasional negative occurrence was rare. I've got a feeling the gentleman who helped you kept you in the back of his mind as well. I feel badly for the kids of today who've missed out on an age of decency & mutual respect. It's truly sad we can't reinstate a kinder past. Take care brother...

3-29-2010 @ 5:19PM

jeff said...

As i was reading this and the posts I was thinking about G.I.'s my mother used to pick them up and my dad would have a fit. Never a problem of course. The 70's my parents would have them in for holidays and keep in touch years later. Good article good post.

3-29-2010 @ 6:46PM

tina said...

What a heart warming story! I have never hitch hiked or picked up one. I was a baby in the late 60's. What a sweet man for helping you out. :)

3-29-2010 @ 8:19PM

Smitty said...

I did also. Before the Navy, in the late 60's because I lost my licence, then the early 70's while in the Navy. The code seemed to be "if someone picked you up, you need to keep them awake". For me the best experience was when I picked up an old fart, (I was 18 at the time, Leaving home in western New York for Florida,) somewhere in Virginia. He needed to find his family in North Carolina, but he got me lost after a day of driving backwoods Carolina Mountain roads, and we finaly ended up in Richmond. I was so disgusted that when he went to the bathroom I left him there. On my way out of town a Cop pulled me over. The old man had left his bag in the back of my car, with everything he owned in it. The cop offered to return the bag but I felt bad, so I went back and got the old guy. We spent another day, near evening we found it.

Things were different back then, We had more time than money, and you could tell the good guys from the bad. Hippies were proud of their Quality drugs, Drunks were proud of their Quality Whiskey, The Southern boys were proud of their Quality Moonshine, and the Truckers were the American Heroes.

Since then I've picked up Hichers in the 80's and heard some horrible stories, in the 90's and had some close calls. I guess it is over. It is too bad, America is gone.

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