Hitchhiking (1972)

Um, a lot of people give hitchhikers a lot of flack about how dangerous hitchhiking is and how they shouldn't do it. But like that's one thing I feel really strongly about that um, danger is everywhere. We're living in a dangerous world. [Music] Too many things can happen to the person. It can really last up their life, you know. Well, I really like hitchhiking because I don't have a car and that's the only way I can get around. I don't know. I figure I value my life too much to go get picked up by some stranger. [Music] If I was hitchhiking and the car stopped and I looked at the driver and thought, "Well, he's got a nice face and I guess I'll take a ride." Well, I I I wouldn't do that cuz um they come in all kinds, [Music] but like I've never had any bad experiences or anything, you know? I've always gotten really nice people pick me up. And like the bit about judging people by what they look like. If you're going to hitch, you're taking a chance, just hitching. So it really doesn't matter. Like you know that that's just a chance you have to take. So the only thing you can do do actually is you can't tell a person whether it's right or wrong, but tell him the different situations that he can encounter. I think if you're stranded out by a street or something, you know, when your car is in trouble or or smoking or something like that, um I think the best thing to do is just wave somebody down and ask them to help you because I think, you know, most people wouldn't mind doing that. And you can sort of tell, you know, like I've refused a whole lot of rides. You can tell by people's eyes, you know, you open the door and you go, "Forget it." You know, like sometimes not such nice things happen. You know, people cruise the streets just looking for some kid to hitchhike and they pick him up. I mean, you know, you don't know what's going to happen. There's just that kind of deranged people around. I'd probably end up walking it because I don't mind walking. There was a girl uh in the papers not too long ago and they found her car, her gloves and her purse, but her change purse was gone and her car had stalled. The battery was dead or something. They don't know what happened to Bill. They still haven't found her. But when you think about it, chances are he's walking down the road, wanted a ride from some guy, and now they don't know where she is. Like, I don't see anything really wrong with accepting a ride. But the thing is that especially for a girl, I think it's too dangerous. And like, especially with that girl that just got picked up on the freeway, I'd be too scared. Like, I've been walking on the street and people come up to me and say, you know, do you want a ride? And I just turn around and I say, "If I wanted to ride, I'd have my thumb out." Like all my friends used to hit and my mom would say, "I don't think you should." But I did it a couple times anyway. Not because I wanted to, but because my friends weren't going to take the bus. And so I just sort of went along with them. If my parents ever found out, like it would everything would just end. And like there's just so many people that could see me hitching and get back to my parents. My parents found out and I got grounded. Well, I did it cuz the group did it because I was curious. And I don't think anything my parents would have said would have stopped me. I know a lot of times like friends of my mom reported that they've seen me hitchhiking but and I've seen them like they've gone by and it scared me cuz I didn't want them to tell my mom but they did. Well, I'm careful who I get in the car with. If I don't I it's just judgment. If I don't feel like I'd be safe with some people, I wouldn't take the ride. You know, that's a silly idea for someone to say, "Well, I can judge him by his looks." Cuz you can't. You can't really make prejudgments because once we got in with somebody who looked really nice, you know, a man all dressed in a suit and, you know, he didn't want to take us where we wanted to go. One time I was hitchhiking with a girlfriend of mine down Laurel Canyon and this guy picked us up and when it came time to um get out of the car, I got out and he took off with my girlfriend and pulled out a gun and she got afraid and impulsively she, you know, jumped out of the car. She broke both her legs and has to learn how to walk again. They say, "Well, you know, be careful." But you don't get in trouble with, you know, people that pick you up. I've been hitching for 4 years. You know, people talk about bad experiences and nothing bad has ever ever happened. Adults, you know, try to tell you that it isn't good or anything, but, you know, you've got to find out for yourself. If you don't freak and you just be calm about everything, usually nothing happens. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] Well, all I do is just stand out on the on the side of the road with my thumb out, you know, to to make sure the people know that that, you know, that I'm hitchhiking, that I'm not just standing there along side of the road picking my nose or something, that I'm actually there to get a ride. I feel, you know, much better when I take a ride with someone who's younger, um, kids. Um, I think it's hard to check the people out before, you know, you get into a car with them. Every situation is different. Every person that picks you up is different. And, uh, meeting people in general and meeting people hitchhiking, there are really no set rules as to how you talk to somebody, how you get along with them, etc. Oh, well, I've done a lot of hitchhiking, but to me, hitchhiking is just like swimming. You better do it with a buddy or two or three. And there's a lot of case where there's a lot of crazy people running around in cars these days. My parents don't know, but I think they'd be upset if if they found out. From what I read in the paper and everything, you know, I found out that it's not too cool to hitchhike. And you know, my mother, she told me, you know, about different things that's happened to different girls and boys in the paper. And I just can say it's not too cool to hitchhike, you know. But it's safer to do it. If you're going to do it, do it with somebody that you know that can handle himself, you know, instead of pressing the panic button. Cuz that's what a lot of hitchhikers do. They press the panic button and the whole scene goes skyh high. And usually if you're pretty cool, you can handle the driver. [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] [Music] Well, I once my mom asked me if I had hitchhiked and I hadn't. So I told her, she said, "Well, dumb." You know, everywhere there's danger and hitchhiking is no more dangerous than anything else. It's just an interesting way of meeting people. When I'm hitchhiking, I never think about anything but getting home. Well, for me right now, I have no other alternative but to hitch because I don't have that much money for buses and I can't keep depending on my mother friends to drive me around. Sometimes I have bad experiences, but about 60% of the time they're mostly good. I don't think that the police would be sympathetic because I don't think they really approve of uh hitchhiking. You know, I find a lot of policemen are against it because they're aware of what can happen to a hitchhiker. Um, they pro they see it more than the hitchhiker, obviously. I don't think I would ever outlaw hitchhiking, but if you know people want to hitchhike, then they're then they've got to accept the um punishment or whatever you want to say. They got to pay to the piper kind of. You know, there's just that one chance that you're not going to get the ride that you thought you were. [Music] I remember when I used to stand on corners, the first thing that went through my mind was as soon as I got my car or anything, I want to give people a ride. But I don't know, something happened. As soon as, you know, I got my license, I just didn't feel that way anymore. You never know who's going to pick you, who you're going to get in your car. You're liable for them. If you get into an accident, they could sue you. I think my father's insurance would cover me in any car I was in. I used to pick up quite a few people when I first got my license. Then my father told me, "As long as you're driving one of his cars, that I can't pick up anymore." It's very easy for me to say, "Don't hitchhike." Because I have a car. [Music] If you read about a rash of people or hitchhikers who are knocking off drivers, you know, would you want your kids to go picking up somebody like that? You know, somebody, you know, when you don't know, I couldn't see it. [Music] There's so many people that say hitchhiking is unsafe, but then they won't give people rides. If they really cared, they would give those people a ride. It would bother me if I knew my girlfriend. I'd tell her no. Definitely not. Many of my friends have done nothing's ever happened to them. And hitchhiking is no more dangerous than anything else. It's just an interesting way of meeting people. You can tell by people's eyes. Sometimes I have bad experiences, but about 60% of the time they're mostly good. I feel that, you know, I don't want to do what the group does. I just can say it's not too cool to hitchhike. You know, it's all