My hitchhikers

In total I have picked up 9 hitchhikers. Some were interesting; others were not. I have never picked up anyone that I felt unsafe around and I have never had a problem.

I picked up my first hitchhiker when I was 17 or 18. I was driving late at night down by Stadium and this 40-something dolled-up lady just started flagging me down all manic-like, so I stopped and let her in. Remember in the Stones song "Honky Tonk Women" when he calls the woman a gin-soaked barroom queen? Well that's what this lady smelled like, but she must have known it because she took a bath in Obsession or something right before she left her pub and, oy, her scent was overwhelming. She explained that her car broke down, she needed a ride to Knapp's, she would have walked except two guys had been on the street right behind her (when she got into her frenzy as I drove by), and upon finding out that I went to the same high school as a few kids she knew she proceeded to tell me that she was a church administrator and God bless me. I guess even Christians get drunk sometimes, huh?
My next one was soon after and he wasn't really hitching. I was driving over the spider web bridge very unusally because I had some kind of appointment and was a couple hours late for school. I saw a car broken down on the side, and then about a quarter mile up I saw a very fat man waddle-running as fast as he could. When I picked him up he was so glad and gracious - it turned out he was a lawyer on his way to court and was almost late. He gave me his card and asked me to call him if I was ever in a bind, but I'm pretty sure I'd pay the extra money for someone a bit more reliable.
My third wasn't asking for a ride either, but she was boring. She was some punk kid walking so unsafely along Highway 16 over the Nalley Valley at like midnight on her way to her boyfriend's to probably do drugs and fight. She made no small talk and never said thanks, so I punished her by playing Oldies the whole way there.
Then in college I was driving my mom's Mustang convertible on a perfect day because my car was in the shop. I had just finished a boat ride on Lake Washington with a rich friend (this was the same day I discovered that Citizens jeans are the greatest ever - apparently rich friends have more rich friends) and this guy and girl were hitching a ride to Portland. They kept saying this was by far the best car to be picked up in and we all talked the whole way there (it was I-5 on a Friday afternoon, so traffic was slow enough that we could hear each other in a convertible on the freeway). I even exchanged e-mails with the guy for awhile, but after hearing about his Burning Man adventures a couple times, I figured we probably didn't have enough in common to become best friends.
The sixth person I gave a ride to was some crazy hippie guy whose car ran out of gas when he went up a hill even though he knew he had enough to make it to the station. Justin and Mish were in the car too, and the guy told us how he had a few albums out from the '70s and he used to tour with different bands and how if the f-ing hill wasn't there then he wouldn't have had to f-ing bother us. He was a blast to transport.
Then after I got pregnant and was driving from a prenatal visit I picked up a guy and his girlfriend and took them to a bar. She explained that she had just wanted to take the bus, but he explained they'd get there much faster by hitchhiking. I never knew it was such a convenience for some people! Then after some chit-chatting he let me know that while her other kid was at home (with God knows who), she was also pregnant. I made sure to remind her not to drink. Sigh. Some people are still so ignorant about drinking while pregnant. Let me take this moment to tell you all: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is proven. You do not have to get drunk for your child to get it. You do not have to drink every day for your child to get it. You could have one drink one time during pregnancy and your child could be learning-delayed or brain-damaged for the rest of his life. Be responsible. And don't give me crud about it being your body so you can do what you want. It's not your body I care about - it's your baby's. Thank you.
Finally a couple months ago Justin and I picked up some Mexican guy who must have been tripping hard because he had no idea what was going on. All he told Justin was that he needed to get to Bellingham. We dropped him off in a safer place just a few miles up since he was actually walking along the non-shoulder 2-foot section of the freeway, but he wandered off like aliens had erased his memories or something. And you know what? Justin saw him the next morning still standing in the same area. Weird.

I've never hitchhiked and I probably never will, but I really don't think it's so bad. I've also never seen any of those scary hitchhiking movies, though.