<a href="mailto:gordandk@aol.com">By GORDIE LITTLE</a>
Small Talk
July 06, 2008 05:37 am
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I love ghost stories. Most of those are first-person accounts of paranormal activity that have come to me through the years.
There is a related body of material that I would place in the category of "legend." It's almost impossible to trace this kind of story back to a specific person or historical event. However, it is interesting to find the earliest published accounts and follow through with variations on the theme.
Such is the case of what has been termed "The Vanishing Hitchhiker," which started in a bygone age. At first, the hitchhiker jumped onto a horse with the owner and later disappeared. As the story evolved, she got into a buggy. And, since the second decade of the 20th century, the story has almost always involved a woman flagging down a car, riding in the backseat and disappearing somewhere along the way. At some point, the driver usually stops at an address given by the vanishing hitchhiker and learns that the woman has been dead for months or years.
Chances are excellent that even if it all started with something that was perceived to be true, it has been embellished far beyond recognition.
HITCHIN'
People have been hitching rides for hundreds of years, but the word "hitchhike" was not used in print until the automobile came into general usage in the early 1920s.
I can come up with about 10 movies with a hitchhiking theme. One is "The Hitch-Hiker" from 1953.
In literature, we're familiar with references in the writings of Jack Kerouac, Douglas Adams, John Steinbeck and others. Even the Guinness Book of World Records has hitchhiking listings.
My favorite song on the subject is Vanity Fare's 1969 hit, "Hitchin' a Ride."
On television, several shows used hitchhiking, including "Different Strokes."
My own hitchhiker stories are far less compelling, but it dawns on me that I rarely see people standing by our North Country roadways with their thumbs stuck out or with destination signs these days.
Does that mean hitchhiking is dead? Nope. It's alive and well in many parts of this nation and others. And the whole hitchhiking concept is evolving, not unlike the story about the "Vanishing Hitchhiker."
LATE-NIGHT RIDE
In my memory banks is a story told often by my dad, who grew up in Rochester. As a teenager, he thumbed a ride from his grandfather's farm in Victor to the city. He was picked up by drunks in a Stanley Steamer. He said the car was capable of tremendous speeds, and his heart was in his throat during the entire ride. I think that's when he first learned how to pray.
I had similar experiences. On a country road outside Massena, I caught a late-night ride with a guy in what we used to call a "doodlebug." It was little more than a motor on a truck frame with no body, no lights and no seat belts. I jumped out when he slowed for an intersection and never stopped running till I got home.
On another occasion, I was picked up by a guy who claimed to be back from a tour of duty in the U.S. Navy. He was driving a brand new 1953 Kaiser Manhattan and had obviously been on a toot. He put the pedal to the metal and showed me what his car would do. I'm sure I soiled my clothes.
I ran out of gas in 1961 somewhere along a remote stretch of Route 9 on my way from Long Island to Plattsburgh driving my brother's Falcon station wagon. Those were the days before the Northway and cell phones. Along came an old stake rack truck with two guys as drunk as any I've ever seen. Somehow, they got me to a can of gas and back to the Falcon in one piece.
They say the Lord watches over fools and little children. I'm sure I fit neatly into the former category.
A DEED REPAID
My friend Jim Goodman lived in Glennallen, Alaska, as a boy. He remembers his dad stopping the car to pick up a hitchhiker who looked desperate for a lift. The man was so grateful that he reached into his shirt and pulled out a rolled-up canvas, gifting the elder Mr. Goodman with a painting he had done.
Years later, Jim had the painting appraised and sold it to a dealer for $2,500, which Jim turned over to his widowed mother. They can't recall the artist's name.
Contrary to popular belief, hitchhiking is apparently not completely illegal under state laws, but there are many state and local restrictions, especially along major highways.
We have all read and heard about crimes committed by drivers and hitchhikers, but you might be surprised to learn that most problems involve thumbers standing in unsafe places and/or drivers who are involved in subsequent crashes.
I like what the digital age is doing for hitchhiking. A Web site called "PickupPal" claims to be "a global eco-friendly transportation revolution that connects drivers, passengers, and packages with the places they need to go." It's been called "a digital thumb" and enables people to set up rides in advance. I like the idea.
Hitchhiking is different around the world, and you should learn ahead of time that the so-called thumb gesture is either obscene or demeaning in some cultures. I like the Dutch translation for hitchhike in the Netherlands best of all: "liften." Makes perfect sense.
Have a great day and please, drive carefully.
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