Drivers From Around The World Share Their Best 'I Picked Up A Hitchhiker' Stories
We all have an image of what a hitchhiker is. The word evokes thoughts of some creepy dude who's been out in the sun and the rain for weeks on end, and who just wants to get into your car so he can murder you.
While it would be inaccurate to say hitchhiking (or picking up a hitchhiker) is an entirely safe activity, especially these days, it doesn't actually always end with someone dead or scarred for life.
In fact, there are some downright heartwarming stories in this list. Of course, there are also some that inspire less confidence in humanity.
Here they are: the internet's best 'I picked up a hitchhiker' stories.
35. Good Samaritans
My friend and I were pulling onto the highway when suddenly a Mexican-looking kid waived us down and ran up to our window.
He was carrying a suitcase, the big ones like we take on international vacations, and it seemed as if he had been walking for some time.
Judging from his appearance, I figured he was probably 20-21 years old. He asked us if he could get a ride to "Grayhun."
We both looked at each other and understood that he was saying Greyhound. The only Greyhound bus stop in town was at this gas station a few miles down the road.
It was cold and windy out and we had some spare time, so we told him to jump in.
Initially thoughts run through your head... I wonder whats in that suitcase... Is he going to put a knife to my neck from behind the seat?
He could have kilos of god knows what from Mexico because this is South Texas...
But as we began to drive, I saw the sigh of relief through the rear view mirror and realized this kid was just happy for a ride.
When we got to the gas station, my friend walked in and double checked everything to make sure it was the right spot.
To our surprise, the final bus for Houston had already left for the day. The next bus was in a town 25 miles over. We tried explaining this to him.
I should have payed more attention in the Spanish class. The only words I can really say are 'si' and 'comprende.' My friend and I said screw it lets drop him off. We turned to him and said, " Listen, we are going to eat first," making hand gestures showing spoons entering mouth, "and we will drop you off after." The kid was still clueless and just kept nodding.
We already ordered Chinese food and began driving in that direction and when we got there, he got out of the car and went to the trunk as if the Chinese Restaurant was the bus stop.
We told him to come in and eat something first, leave the suitcase in the car. He was still clueless. When we got in, our food was already prepared.
We decided to eat there so he could eat as well. When the hostess came over, she was Hispanic. So she explained to the kid what was going on.
For the next 10 minutes all he kept saying was thank you.
He had very broken English, but eventually told us he was from Ecuador and he was in America looking for a job to make money for his family back home.
After dinner, we arrived at our destination and said farewell. I hope he made it to wherever he had to go.
34. Pay It Forward
Just about every time I see someone, I stop. I kind of got out of the habit in the last couple of years, moved to a big city and all that, plus my girlfriend wasn't too stoked about the practice.
Then sometime happened to me that changed me and now I am back to offering rides habitually.
This past year I have had 3 instances of car trouble. A blow out on a freeway, a bunch of blown fuses, and an out-of-gas situation.
Each of these times this happened, I was DISGUSTED with how people would not bother to help me. I spent hours on the side of the freeway waiting, watching roadside assistance vehicles blow past me, for AAA to show.
The 4 gas stations I asked for a gas can all told me that they couldn't loan them out "for my safety"
but I could buy a really crappy 1-gallon one with no cap for $15.
But you know who came to my rescue all three times? Immigrants. Mexican immigrants. None of them spoke a lick of the language.
But one of those dudes had a profound affect on me.
He was the guy that stopped to help me with a blow out with his whole family of 6 in tow. I was on the side of the road for close to 4 hours.
Right as I was about to give up and just hitchhike, a van pulls over and dude bounds out. He sizes the situation up and calls for his youngest daughter, who speaks English.
He conveys through her that he has a jack but it is too small for my Jeep so we will need to brace it.
He produces a saw from the van and cuts a log out of a downed tree on the side of the road. We rolled it over, put his jack on top, and bam, in business.
I start taking the wheel off and, if you can believe it, I broke his tire iron. It was one of those collapsible ones and I wasn't careful and I snapped the head I needed clean off.
No worries, he runs to the van, gives it to his wife and she is gone in a flash, down the road to buy a tire iron.
She is back in 15 minutes, we finish the job with a little sweat and cussing (stupid log was starting to give), and I was a very happy man.
The wife produced a large water jug for us to wash our hands in. I tried to put a 20 in the man's hand but he wouldn't take it, so I instead gave it to his wife as quietly as I could.
I thanked them up one side and down the other. I asked the little girl where they lived, thinking maybe I could send them a gift for being so awesome.
She says they live in Mexico. They are here so mommy and daddy can pick peaches for the next few weeks.
After that, they are going to pick cherries then go back home. She asks if I have had lunch and when I told her no she gave me a tamale from their cooler -- the best I have ever had.
So, to clarify, a family that is undoubtedly poorer than you, me, and just about everyone else on that stretch of road, working on a seasonal basis where time is money, took an hour or two out of their day to help some strange dude on the side of the road when people in tow trucks were just passing me by.
Wow...
But we aren't done yet. I thank them again and walk back to my car and open the foil on the tamale cause I am starving at this point and what do I find inside?
My $20 bill! I whirled around and ran up to the van and the guy rolled his window down. He sees the $20 in my hand and just shaking his head no like he won't take it.
"Today you... tomorrow me," he said.
I sat in my car eating the best tamale of all time and I just cried. Like a little girl. It has been a rough year and nothing has broke my way.
This was so out of left field I just couldn't deal.
In the 5 months since I have changed a couple of tires, given a few rides to gas stations and, once, went 50 miles out of my way to get a girl to an airport.
I won't accept money. Every time I tell them the same thing when we are through:
"Today you... tomorrow me."
33. The Ballad Of Garth
After graduating high school, 4 friends and I decided to take a long summer road trip and Glacier National Park was our destination.
We found ourselves camping in the middle of nowhere in the woods of Northwest Montana, some 25 miles north of Missoula.
We camped illegally and partied all night.
In the morning, I woke up in the driver's seat of my car to see some dude walking by in the road, which was 40 yards away from our campsite.
The guy couldn't see us -- he was just passing by -- but I could see him. I was still out of it, so I decided to yell at him, not even thinking that it could be the owner of the land that we were illegally camping on.
He did a 180 and began walking towards me. He had a backpack, a big tree limb for a walking stick, and he looked exhausted and hungry. Dude looked like the Big Lebowski mixed with Saul from Pineapple Express but acted like someone who had just had their butt kicked, mentally and physically. He looked like someone had sucked his soul out of him.
My friends had heard me yelling, so they woke to find this guy, Garth, sitting in one of our lawn chairs eating our stale Doritos like he hadn't had anything in days.
We would later learn that was actually true.
It was about 10 AM by the time we decided to leave the campsite and head back to Missoula to find food.
Garth hopped in the car and began to tell the story of how he had wound up in the middle of nowhere Montana.
He sat shotgun and talked while my friend sat behind him, ready for Garth to try to kill us or something crazy.
The story that Garth told us was bonkers.
Some dude he met in Missoula promised him work on his land. Apparently, the guy bought some property and needed some trees and brush cleared so he could start building a house.
He said he would let Garth stay on his land for the night and meet him there in the morning with some tools and some food so they could work all day to clear this brush.
Well, one day went by, then another... and another, and another. The guy never showed up, and Garth was on this guy's land for 5 freaking days with no food or shelter.
Luckily, he had a stream to keep hydrated, but catching food was next to impossible. He said he could hear coyotes very close to him at night and one morning he woke up to a Bull Moose 30 yards away, snorting and stomping its hooves on the ground, ready to charge.
Garth ran up a tree and stayed there for the rest of the day.
He said he didn't want to leave the land because he had no idea where he was and he was hoping that the guy would show up to take him back to town.
It wasn't until this particular morning that he said he was so hungry and cold that he thought he was going to die if he didn't start walking somewhere.
Garth said he started following a logging road with the hope it would lead him to people. He had been walking all night with no signs of anything and actually thought he was walking in circles.
He said that the coyotes were howling and he was the most scared he had ever been in his life. We were the first sign of life he had seen in almost 6 days.
After he told us this story we were said we wanted to buy him lunch, some drinks, and a coat. He immediately declined.
He seemed embarrassed by the situation, especially because some random 18-year-olds were offering to buy him this stuff.
We understood where he was coming from but this guy had just spent 6 days in the woods and he deserved a hot meal.
He finally said he would eat lunch with us so we took him to a Chinese buffet were he scarfed down four plates like a boss.
After lunch, he asked us to take him to the homeless shelter in town so he could get a shower and a bed for the night.
We agreed and took him across town to drop him off. The car ride over was quiet, mainly because Garth dozed off.
He was still sleeping when we got to the homeless shelter. We woke him up and he thanked us a million times and stumbled into the shelter.
My friends and I were floored by his story. We didn't say much as we hit the road north to Glacier National Park, until we noticed something on the floor by the front seat.
His BACKPACK.
We were 40 miles north of town and didn't even think about what to do. We pulled over and turned around to take his backpack to him at the shelter.
