Why hitch-hiking is nearly dead?

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 PPP 15 Jun 2015
In addition to the rant about ridiculous train prices, I am about to start another thread.

I have hitched over 12k miles in 10ish countries over 5 years (I was 17 when I started doing it), but not so much in the UK. It's great way to travel and I still do it, but way less frequent than I used to. It's not only because it's cheap, but because you meet many nice people and you never know where you'll end up. I have been invited to drivers' houses for the lunch and bed, have been given loads of free coffee, snacks or even meals, have heard many amazing stories and I got some experience you wouldn't be able to find anywhere. With nearly 300 hundred of different drivers I got lifts from, I had lots of epics, but not a single bad accident!

But why hitch-hiking (outside Scottish islands and highlands) is so uncommon here in Scotland? I have tried to hitch from Edinburgh Airport to Glasgow and that was one of my worst hitch-hiking experiences. Maybe the timing wasn't right as I started at 5AM and ended up in Glasgow at 9AM ish. So not too bad in the end, but it should have taken an hour or two less!

I talked to people in Scotland and apart from remote areas, some drivers haven't seen a single hitch-hiker for 10 years. A lot of older drivers admitted that they had wild times on the road, too. So there was a hitch-hiking culture, but not any more?! Is it something that will never be back as a way to travel? I like that it's uncommon and it makes it even more interesting, but I feel like hitch-hiking will be nearly impossible in a decade or so with such rate of decrease.
 Jack B 15 Jun 2015
In reply to PPP:

Even in the time I've been doing it I think it's become rarer. And not that long ago I found myself trying to explain to my colleagues why I pick up hitchhikers. They thought I was nuts.

I reckon it's because car ownership is on the up, especially among young people. A great many drivers have not had to go without a car, so don't have any experience of hitchhiking from the hitcher's side.
Removed User 15 Jun 2015
In reply to PPP:

Often hitch a ride back to my van in the Highlands. Never failed to get a lift and I also pick a fur few people up.

I lived in North Wales in the 70s. Hitching was considered a valid form of public transport.
 Ramblin dave 15 Jun 2015
In reply to Jack B:

That's a thought.

I've always suspected that it's at least partly down to modern cars being too comfortable, too - yer modern driver is nicely sealed in to a clean, dry, climate controlled box, and so the idea of stopping to let in some interloper from the nasty, smelly outside world barely even occurs to them...
 Fraser 15 Jun 2015
In reply to PPP:

Probably because there are too many nut-jobs out there! Why take the risk?
13
OP PPP 15 Jun 2015
In reply to Jack B:

> I reckon it's because car ownership is on the up, especially among young people. A great many drivers have not had to go without a car, so don't have any experience of hitchhiking from the hitcher's side.
But not everyone. When I was 19 (so 3 years ago, indeed), I hitch-hiked to Czech Republic (from Lithuania though, not from the UK), spent a week hiking in the mountains, got back home. I spent around 45 pounds in two weeks (!). As I have been working as a freelancer and had few other odd jobs at that time, I had more money in my bank account than I had before leaving home. And you hear people telling that they don't have money to travel... I call that nonsense!
 Escher 15 Jun 2015
In reply to PPP:

I think Jack B has got it spot on, it's not just the fact kids all have cars these days it's the quality of them too. It used to be a right of passage to eventually score a passion wagon that sported an inch of water in the bottom along with an equal amount of pond slime and moss and as for it's mechanical properties that was even worse. These days, if you wander around a typical Uni car park it is stacked full of quite decent cars. I think that there is more distrust of strangers these days too.

I did a fair bit of hitching back home from parties as a teenager, never went much further field but it wasn't particularly uncommon to see someone hitching in those days but it seems to be very rare today.

I hadn't seen anyone with their thumb out save new car delivery drivers near to the motorway for ages until the other day. There was a guy walking through Grizedale in the south lakes so I gave him a lift, sadly I was nearly at my destination so couldn't take him far. He was clutching a large old fashioned blue suitcase that he clutched tightly to his chest as he squeezed himself into the passenger seat. He was going to Kezz Wick (with a hard W) apparently. All right, not that interesting but later on that day after I got home, I stood up to shut the curtains and who did I see getting off the bus opposite my house? Yes him with the suitcase. Perhaps he lives nearby?
 fmck 15 Jun 2015
In reply to PPP:
I remember reading a book in the 80's about hitch hikers guide to Europe. It had loads of tips such as smiling and always having eye contact. Look tired but clean etc. Really worked for me. The hitch hikers I see these days looked like their pissed trying to get home not even bothering to face the traffic.
 Deri Jones 15 Jun 2015
In reply to PPP:

Having spent a good few years with hitching as my main mode of transport, I'll stop and pick up folk if I see them. I think one of the problems as well is that cars are a lot comfier these days - I'll happily do Mid Wales - Edinburgh with one stop, compared to 2 or 3 in my old van/Citroen, so less chance of seeing hitchers once you're on the motorway.
The "nutters on the road" thing is a load of crap in my mind - judge your hitcher/lift sensibly and you're fine - I've picked up homeless (he was a happy guy - picked up in Edinburgh and dropped in Knutsford in one hit!), families and spaced out rockers. Equally, I've been given lifts by all sorts - Bolivian musicians, a family in a Jag doing 120 up the M74, delivery drivers, truckers and so on. If you think someone's iffy, dodge the lift and keep your wits/ gear on you.
Good luck with the hitching, airports are always crap to hitch from for some reason.
andymac 15 Jun 2015
In reply to PPP:

Tend to not pick up hitch-hikers unless they really are getting soaked ,or genuinely in need of a lift.

Gave a Danish girl a lift to the ferry last year ,and by the end of the 10 mile drive she was asking if there were any seasonal jobs ,or people with rooms to let.

She was leaving ,wanting to go home to Denmark,yet wanting to stay and get a job.got the impression she was a bit of a lost soul.

Would admit that she only got a lift because she was a woman.and pretty.

If it had been a greasy tree-hugger with a guitar on his back ,he would still be standing there.
4
 deepsoup 15 Jun 2015
In reply to Fraser:
> Probably because there are too many nut-jobs out there! Why take the risk?

Almost this. Three word answer: The Daily Mail.

There are no more nut-jobs out there than there ever were, but thanks to the modern media (and other drivel, masquerading as newspapers) we're all convinced we'll be murdered in our Octavia estates.
 Cheese Monkey 15 Jun 2015
In reply to PPP:

The last person I gave a lift to had jogged 2 miles to buy charcoal for a family bbq then realised it was a 2 mile walk back with a big heavy bag in shorts and t shirt on quite a fresh day. It did make me laugh

I find car traders the worst. Most fall asleep or stare out the window for hours. Bring on the nutters with mad conversation. Like the one guy I picked up that was pretty out there but full of interesting ideas
 Dave the Rave 15 Jun 2015
In reply to PPP:
I nearly always pick up hitch hikers, especially in Scotland. By the end of the ride they can't wait to get out of my car
 Mr Trebus 15 Jun 2015
In reply to PPP:

I think there a few reasons for this.
- Lorry drivers are not allowed to pick up hitchers.
- Technology has made it easier to find a liftshare.

Al
OP PPP 15 Jun 2015
In reply to Fraser:

When was the last time you have heard an accident related to the hitch-hiking?

I now remember one story where I felt very uncomfortable. I was with a female friend hitch-hiking in Romania. Indeed, we were walking in a small town when someone stopped in the middle of the street (in middle lane!) and asked us where we were going as he saw us with rucksacks. He gave us a ride for over 200km, so we chatted with him quite a bit. He looked like a lower class person in his 40s with a very nice car. He was very friendly to us, but he had lost some teeth, was quite big and told that he was in prison for half a year because he fought with someone. He was also telling us a lot about his kukri knife he bought in Nepal which I found quite weird (seems like he was very proud of it). Some time later, he invited us to his home.

It was the first time I was not so keen to accept such offer as I was not on my own that time and would feel very bad if something bad happened to my friend. He stopped in a small shop and I had a chat with my friend and told her that we don't have to accept his offer. She said, "look at his eyes, they are telling he's nice". I made sure she's taking the risk and I am happy to spend a night in a tent or in a pub.

We ended up in his three storey house in Bucharest and there was no one at his house. We didn't even take our shoes off when he brought the kukri knife and showed it to us. It wasn't scary, but weird. He had quite a lot of toys for children at his house and he said that his family is away, so that felt relieving. We had really nice dinner and some alcohol. I felt quite tired and slightly drunk, so decided to go to bed and told my friend not to get too drunk. She just laughed at me.

Next morning, we had as nice breakfast as the dinner and he gave us a ride outside of the city so we could keep hitch-hiking. That man was one of the most honest and nicest guys, even though I did not trust him as much as he deserved. Of course, this story could have been much worse. But it wasn't at all.
 Pbob 15 Jun 2015
In reply to PPP:

Nice experiences -

I was once hitching in Scotland. By the time I got out of the car two hours later I'd been offered a job in rope access work.

another time I hitched a ride from Pitlochry from a bloke who was travelling with work. We chatted about the hills etc for an hour or so. Two weeks bagging later and I was picked up heading south towards Fort Bill. "Don't I know you?" Same bloke off on a bagging trip of his own, talked into by yours truly.

Bad experience - prang on a motorway sliproad. No injuries, but driver (who's fault it was) asks "Am I supposed to stop now?" Not sure what planet she was on.
 Yanis Nayu 15 Jun 2015
In reply to PPP:

I've given maybe 5 lifts to hitch-hikers and 2 of them were nutters. Very disturbing experiences I don't wish to repeat.
 nathan79 15 Jun 2015
In reply to PPP:

only occasionally see hitchhikers, and when I do they're often standing in the most inconvenient of places!
I have an agreement with myself that if I see a walker/climber type and I can, Ill pick them up. Do date have only done so once, a couple of months ago. A poor drookit Frenchman who was doing the Cape Wrath trail. Couldn't take him all the way but cut down his journey.
 Prof. Outdoors 15 Jun 2015
In reply to PPP:
Picking hitch hikers up is probably perceived as dangerous. As stated above, haulage companies often forbid drivers to give lifts. More people have access to cars. Maybe people are less reluctant to hitch as it requires a bit of commitment and the outcome is uncertain.

I have hitched in the UK, Europe and USA.
Good times -
Manchester - Cardiff in one lift on a bitter winter night dropped to my door.
Ljubljana, in what used to be northern Yugoslavia, to Athens in one lift over 3 days.

Bad times - Abroad
Getting stuck overnight (twice) and sleeping in a field.
Having a Jordanian lorry driver scheming to do me in and share my stuff out with someone else he'd picked up.
Someone threatening to pull a gun on the Greek/Turkish border.
Having an Italian male physically trying to get my trousers off.
Falling out of the back of a station wagon as the driver pulled away before I had managed to shut the trunk door.

Bad times Uk
Had lifts from someone on the run from the Police, someone moving an illegal whisky plant north to Scotland, someone smoking dope so heavily you could barely see through the windscreen.

From someone who sat so far forward in the seat that the sun visor came down behind their head. (Sorry, that one isn't true)

I drive 28k per year and offer lifts, especially to those who look committed to hitching. (Standing at convenient place to stop, showing a destination sign, climbers with rucksacks, trade plates)

Hitching has been very good to me, especially when my income was really low. People were quite interesting and some seemed to welcome my company to relieve their boredom. (Sad people)
Post edited at 23:55
 Trevers 16 Jun 2015
In reply to PPP:
I've hitched successfully a couple of times in the UK. Once was up The Pass after parking my car by the Cromlech Boulder (in a convertible to my mate's surprise), the other time after picking up a bike puncture before I had a repair kit. So I guess I looked quite safe both times and it was clear they were only going to be short journeys.

Picked up a hitcher once, but he was the type of guy who I was genuinely scared of saying the wrong thing around... long army jacket, loads of random stories which seemed like compulsive lies. The stereotypical urban myth hitcher. Instantly regretted picking him up when it turned out we'd be going the same way for a couple of hours, big sigh of relief when I dropped him off. In no rush to repeat that experience.

Fond memories of hitching in the Alps. One Austrian farmer pulled over, told us to climb in amongst the bales of hay on the back of his tractor then gave us a ride all the way up the mountain to our hut for the night! Through a military checkpoint too!
Post edited at 00:57
 Roadrunner5 16 Jun 2015
In reply to PPP:

I find it OK. I was hitching around Lake Annecy a few weeks back in France, never waited more than 5 minutes..

I love hitch hiking, its so random who picks you up. This one old couple in France stopped with a small polo, just 2 front doors, so he kicks his wife into the back and hop in. She was an english teacher luckily so we chatted on.

Another farmer picked me up and he could not speak a word of english and me french, somehow we communicated and he wasnt going on all the way to annecy but would drop me at the main road to annecy, where the old couple picked me up..

abseil 16 Jun 2015
In reply to PPP:

I assume people are scared to hitch. I assume people are scared to pick hitchers up.
 girlymonkey 16 Jun 2015
In reply to PPP:

I hitch and pick up hitchhikers. I love the random conversations and the off the wall nutters that you get. Never had a bad experience, but I am mostly in the Scottish Highlands.
One day my husband and I did pick up a nutter at a service station on the M8, he had a pink mohawk and was turning 40. His biggest issue in life was that he was starting to go bald, and just what does a balding punk do to look cool?! He then opened a can of beer and offered one to both of us - while I was driving. He was probably the biggest nutter I have picked up, and he was nice with it.
 planetmarshall 16 Jun 2015
In reply to Mr Trebus:

> - Technology has made it easier to find a liftshare.

This. I've used BlaBlaCar extensively on long journeys. On popular trips like Manchester->Edinburgh I can usually fill the car and the passenger contributions usually more than cover the cost of the journey.

 Rob Exile Ward 16 Jun 2015
In reply to PPP:
I hitched all over the UK from 15 on, then Canada, Europe and South America too. In that time I had one rather pathetic homosexual encounter - excruciatingly embarrassing for a 16 year old, but no big deal - and a slightly more serious event in northern BC in Canada when I was robbed literally of all my possessions - the b*stard!

I used to love hitch hiking - the random conversations, the uncertainty, the interesting (and mostly very kind) people - and I like to think I developed a skill in engaging Daily Mail types in conversation without being offensive - after all, they were giving me a lift. I regret that my kids don't do it, and I'm sorry there aren't more people to give lifts too.
1
cb294 16 Jun 2015
In reply to PPP:

My hitchhiking days are largely over (age catches up), but I tend to give hitchhikers a lift as often as I can. Had some unpleasant experiences with homeless men over the years, so I don´t stop for them any more (I hate being threatened with violence, even from someone who poses no real physical danger), but will always try to find place for students and especially craftsmen travelling after their apprenticeship. Since the traditional rules of most guilds don´t allow them to control a vehicle or pay for transport they have to hitchhike or walk. Unfortunately this tradition is slowly getting lost, many people don't even recognize the traditional uniforms any more.

CB
davegreg 16 Jun 2015
In reply to Mr Trebus:

Completely I agree with you. And sometimes it will be more free when driving on your own.
 timjones 16 Jun 2015
In reply to PPP:

> I have been invited to drivers' houses for the lunch and bed, have been given loads of free coffee, snacks or even meals, have heard many amazing stories and I got some experience you wouldn't be able to find anywhere.

How often did you buy the driver a coffee or snack or chip in for the cost of a fuel when they filled up
 Neil Williams 16 Jun 2015
In reply to Jack B:

There are also the other ways to "hitch hike" - the ride sharing websites, as well as less formal methods such as asking on here, which continues the principle but with a bit more certainty than just thumbing a lift.
 Neil Williams 16 Jun 2015
In reply to cb294:
> Since the traditional rules of most guilds don´t allow them to control a vehicle or pay for transport they have to hitchhike or walk.

Is that *actually* still the case? Strikes me that the guilds should wake up to which century it is.

Edit: Done some Googling and it seems it's a tradition rather than a practicality. Interesting.

Neil
Post edited at 10:02
cb294 16 Jun 2015
In reply to Neil Williams:

I disagree, as the whole point is to step away from the modern consumer lifestyle for a limited time. You live with what you wear or carry, promise to not get back to your starting point before a set time, you get board and work from master tradesmen of your guild wherever you show up, and when you had enough, you settle down and resume a normal life. Not my thing (and doesn´t work for academics anyway), but I know several people from my village who trained as bricklayers or carpenters and travelled for several years, even getting as far as Namibia, Canada, or Chile. No problem travelling by ship if you work for your passage.

CB
 Flinticus 16 Jun 2015
In reply to PPP:

Well, I tried a spot of hitching at the end of my walk last Thursday, from a big layby on the A87 (plenty of room to pull in) not too far west of the site of the battle of Glen Shiel, aftering coming down from my round of The Saddle & Sgurr na Sgine. I was looking to get to The Cluanie Inn and even had a prepared sign 'The Clunaie Inn, citylink bus stop'. I made sure my rucksck was visible and kept my sunglasses on my head (so my eyes could be seen). So I am indicating that 1) I am a hillwalker 2) Not a nutter & 3) You don't need to take me far and this road should be popular with fellow outdoors people.

Well, no luck in the time I was there and plemty cars passed with room. Eventually the citylink bus came around the corner and I flagged it down and it stopped, so I was fine in the end, though there was no guarantee the bus would stop (I've been on citylink buses before that didn't enough stop at the official stop despite people waiting there!)

Why do I think getting a lfit is so hard now?

A lot less people hitch so have no experience of it or how long it can be before a lift comes along, and the bystander effect: oh sure, someone else will give him a lift in a second.

Additionally, the roads have improved and cars go a lot faster than decades ago. People seem more impatient and can't be bothered slowing down. Mayber there is not enough time between seeing the hitcher and coming to a decision. Maybe by the time the brain has computed the situation, the car has already passed.

Me? I will offer a lift to most people I see unless they look rough / like someone you wouldn't sit next to on a train.

 FrankBooth 16 Jun 2015
In reply to PPP:

I don't think Rutger Hauer helped the cause.

I use to hitch a fair bit, including across Ireland from Dublin to Connemara. More recently, I was walking with my brother-in-law and the kids around Snowdonia and needed to get back from Pen-Y-Pass back to Llanberis. He was visibly shocked when I suggested he hitched down (despite it being common practice since forever).
 summo 16 Jun 2015
In reply to PPP:

I have advertised my longer journeys on lifting sharing sites before and it works ok. I will always stop for anyone who looks like a fellow walker or climber, who may have a bit of flog along a road to go. Many are simply linking up back to their cars or dropped off the hill early for some reason. Like most of us, pride stops the thumb coming out, but also most of us will accept a lift to avoid a few miles of tarmac with sore feet in big boots!
 Mal Grey 16 Jun 2015
In reply to PPP:

Another who still hitches and picks up hitchers when in the Highlands/hill country, but otherwise I think it has indeed almost died out. I used to hitch regularly before I got my first car, anything further than a comfortable cycle ride really, though occasionally I got the National Express. Use to be basically enjoyable, and I never felt threatened. There were particularly places on the edge of some cities where you'd effectively end up being in a hitching queue - the motorway out of Bristol was one such place.

Occasionally drivers would leave you stranded somewhere they thought would be excellent but in reality was a completely useless place for hitching from, but that was just the luck of the draw.

I've just discovered that I'm not supposed to pick up hitchers in my company car, perhaps that has also become a factor.
 Bob 16 Jun 2015
In reply to PPP:

Not hitched for a year or two but that's more due to not having needed to than anything else. As you and others have said, it depends on where you are, the more rural/upland areas are fine. I can't remember when I last saw a hitchhiker so must be a few years at least.

I suppose hitching was the way to get around when not everyone had a car or had access to a car, then there's the "everyone is a <insert bogeyman du jour here> " attitude that pervades modern society. Company rules that prevent unauthorised passengers - I've had a lift in a fuel tanker in the past - effectively stop all commercial lifts.
Removed User 16 Jun 2015
In reply to PPP:

Three of us decided to hitch back to the car from Achnasheen station in April. I bravely made myself scarce while the ladies stuck out their thumbs - took maybe ten minutes for them to flag down a ride. I was pleasantly surprised.

We'd figured that people would be more likely to stop for women because they're likely to be perceived as less threatening, rather than because they figure they might get lucky. And, as it happens, the driver who stopped was a woman.
 Paul Robertson 16 Jun 2015
In reply to Flinticus:

> Well, I tried a spot of hitching at the end of my walk last Thursday, from a big layby on the A87 (plenty of room to pull in) not too far west of the site of the battle of Glen Shiel...

Interesting. My mate and I got down to Sligachan from the Cuillin to at about 7pm on Sunday. Didn't fancy a long walk to Glenbrittle so stuck out a thumb. Within 5 minutes we had a lift from a local couple who said they could take us to the top of the Glenbrittle Road. They were not climbers or even walkers but over the course of the journey we established so many connections and mutual acquaintances that they ended up taking us all the way to the campsite.

A lovely end to the day but I can't help feeling that we were a bit lucky.
Ferret 16 Jun 2015
In reply to PPP:

On the affluence theme but a different take perhaps.... many of those who used to hitch now have cars so don't themselves hitch and don't have experience of or empathy towards hitchikers.

But also - time is less free now than it was. Students may be (apparently) more affluent with cars etc but many of them work a lot, do summer jobs/internships etc so when they do get out they tend to want to get there fast, have a day or twos climbing and walking and then get home. The old 'time is cheap' mentality of taking all summer and hitching to and from the Alps and accepting the journey will eat a fair %age of the time has been replaced more with 'I work and can afford a car but that means I go after work Friday and come back Sunday' Or I fly out for 2 weeks bang on then go to work again to pay for it.

Bit of a vicious circle really - expectations higher, car ownership more prevalent but at the expense of working. Sure, many did epic after work hitches and back in time for shift starting Monday but willingness to do that seems to have declined.
 JayPee630 16 Jun 2015
In reply to Removed UserBwox:

Actually most people I know are much more wary of stopping for a single woman. Best combination IME for hitching is a male/female pair. Worst is 2 (or more) men.
 Wicamoi 16 Jun 2015
In reply to PPP:

I think the combination of increased car ownership and the feeling of not being all in it together is what's killing hitching. Which is a shame, because hitching/picking up hitchers is a good way of affirming and having community affirmed. Some areas still hold on to that sense of togetherness, or perhaps it is just that some landscapes are slightly more overwhelming than others, and empty enough to accentuate the common humanity that ties us to the meagre ribbon of a road running through them. Like others on this thread I still occasionally find it convenient to hitch short distances in the highlands, and have never had to wait long for a lift. In return I give lifts whenever the mess in my car allows room for a seat, and have never had a bad experience thereby. Contrary to popular belief, the world is not full of nutters, it is mostly full of people like You.
cb294 16 Jun 2015
In reply to JayPee630:


> ... Best combination IME for hitching is a male/female pair.

Bonnie and Clyde?

CB
 Flinticus 16 Jun 2015
In reply to JayPee630:

> Actually most people I know are much more wary of stopping for a single woman. Best combination IME for hitching is a male/female pair. Worst is 2 (or more) men.

Worse is one man and his dog! I largely gave up hitching when I got my mutt.
 JayPee630 16 Jun 2015
In reply to Flinticus:

I'd basically pick up any hitcher with a dog! Surely they'll be lovely!? Or at least you get a hang out with a dog if they aren't.
 galpinos 16 Jun 2015
In reply to PPP:

I hitched a lot in my teens/early twenties, mainly with success and a couple of good stories (stolen goods, breakdowns, getting arrested etc) but since I have been in a position to return the favour their are fewer hitchers to pick up. The last few lifts have all been tourists in the Peak lost or wet or both.

A few months ago I did see a couple late (probably driving too fast) and didn't go back for them. Spotted them later in the same town and felt very guilty.
KevinD 16 Jun 2015
In reply to Wicamoi:

> the world is not full of nutters, it is mostly full of people like You.

Depending on the person the latter might not be very reassuring.
 Siward 16 Jun 2015
In reply to fmck:

> The hitch hikers I see these days looked like their pissed trying to get home not even bothering to face the traffic.

Well I vividly recall getting a Sheffield-Leeds lift back in the day still clutching my 2 litre of Taunton Exhibition cider (surely now banned) and getting a perfectly good lift, even though I did spill a wee bit over his seat.

But I'd never be so rude as not to face the traffic...
 Flinticus 16 Jun 2015
In reply to JayPee630:

> I'd basically pick up any hitcher with a dog! Surely they'll be lovely!? Or at least you get a hang out with a dog if they aren't.

Ha! You sound like me! My wife calls me a dog botherer. I'll change route if it gets me to a dog! (only if I am without my own dog)
 Rob Naylor 16 Jun 2015
In reply to PPP:

I used to hitch a lot when younger. Hitched at uni, and hitched afterwards, on my way to and from visiting relatives and job interviews etc. Never had a bad experience.

In fact my most successful hitch was being picked up on the A1 by a guy travelling from Yarmouth to Aberdeen when I was returning from my first interview in gawd knows how long. I was bemoaning how many applications I'd made and how few interviews. He said the offshore industry was always after people, gave me 3 business cards and suggested I write "cold" as even if the companies weren't advertising, they were usually after motivated people.

Wrote 3 letters, got 3 interviews and 3 job offers and have had a great life for the last 38 years....so thank you Mike Garrett!

I pick up hitchers whenever I see them, which is very rarely. I travel regularly between Kent and Devon and don't recall seeing a hitcher anywhere on my route in the last 2 years. Last pickup was a couple of years ago on the A23 when I met a Czech guy trying to get to Eastbourne as he'd been told that it was the best place to try and grab a lift to get back to Dover and the continent (???!!!). It was deep winter and freezing. He had 3 pairs of keks on and all the clothes from his rucksack, had been sleeping under hedges and had managed about 20 miles in 2 days (all walking, no lifts....he did look a bit scruffy though!). I was on my way back to Tunbridge Wells, and convinced him that Eastbourne was a crap place to be if heading for Dover.

I drove right past T. Wells and took him up to the M25, along clockwise to junction 6 where I changed to the anti-clockwise carriageway , then left him at Clackett Lane services with a tenner to get himself a hot drink and a bite to eat. He'd been looking for work in the UK but hadn't been able to find any before his funds ran out. Hope he made it home.
 LeeWood 16 Jun 2015
In reply to PPP:

Its all part of the modern trend. Folk don't talk to each other in public - they're too busy talking to their iPhones. Christian values used to promote altruistic efforts for others but we now try to be autonomous and expect others to do the same. We're all richer and (as others have remarked) kids are often given cars long before they need to hitchhike.

I still rely on hitch-hiking for climbing trips; I fancy age doesn't help but v hard to compare, sometimes it goes easily. Placing a helmet prominently helps. If I can make it fit then the busfare is too cheap to ignore: spnish border to Lleida city only 15 EUR (3hrs).
 Sean Kelly 16 Jun 2015
In reply to PPP:

The holiday season is hopeless for hitching and mainly Scotland where I've have totally failed to get a lift ie waiting more than 8 hours at a good spot on the A82! Again by Loch Gelncarnoch waiting hours for no lift and having to walk over 12 miles after a round of the Fanichs! To say I was knackered at the end of that stint was putting it mildly.
England is generally OK but I alway failed toget across London hitching back from Wales on a Sunday night, and had to sleep at one of the railway stations.
another bad hiotch was getting stuck near Preston when going for a job interview in the Lakes. Needless to say when I arrived at Ullswater OBC I had not only missed the interview but also the meal that was laid on. I just turned around and started hitching back, sleeping the night on the verge of the M6.
And yet I nearly always stop for somebody unless the mrs is not too keen on the look of them. Never had a problem with either those given a lift or my own hitches going back 50 years.
 DerwentDiluted 16 Jun 2015
In reply to PPP:
I may have contributed to the demise of hitchhiking. A climbing partner and myself, many years ago spent a lot of time in Glencoe. We had a long running joke that one day we would pick up 2 continental female hitchhikers and consequently have a bit of a change from the usual evenings entertainment in the Clachaig were we wild camped (remember being able to do that? ) or the Kingshouse.

One weekend I was a student in Stirling and my friend picked me up for a trip in his company car, no hitchhikers appeared on the way up so we did the usual and got messy in the Kingshouse. We had forgotten the tent that weekend, which was unfortunate and so we had to sleep in the car. We consoled ourselves with a bottle of scotch and passed out in the car, I woke up soon with a real need to vomit, I tried to open the door but it was a new car with that fancy central locking stuff, my attempts to wind down the window were in vain as it had that new fancy electric window stuff. Faced with no alternative I chucked up in my hands and threw it into the footwell, although it went all over me, my sleeping bag and the seat.

Next morning my friend was not too impressed, and stonily drove me to Fort William to get my sleeping bag dry cleaned and get me loads of cleaning stuff to clean up with. I did a pretty good job but all the magic trees in Scotland couldn't hide the 'just puked in' odour, nor could steaming down the A82 with all the windows open. As we were steaming down the A82 we saw, 2 female continental hitchhikers! Our luck was in, after months of joking about it our men behaving badly script was going to be played out. We screeched to a halt and they happily clambered in - they were going to the Kingshouse, thats where we were staying, we had no tent, our pathetic little imaginations went into overdrive.

In about 30 seconds they didnt look so grateful for the ride, in fact they looked pretty upset to be riding in the Vauxhall Vomtra, frosty silence ruled. They pitched their tent as far away from us as humanly possible - across the river, and scarcely acknowledged us all weekend.

I cant help but think that we did our bit to discourage hitch hiking in the UK.
Post edited at 17:52
In reply to PPP:

Why in this era of technology is ther no on line [Free] hitch hike service around??

Week Today Watford to manchester M1 I have offerd in the past but never any intrest so dont bother,
and yes i would love to hitch it but YOU all drive past
 Neil Williams 18 Jun 2015
In reply to google:

Erm...
https://www.blablacar.co.uk/
https://liftshare.com/uk

I'm sure there are others.

Neil
 AlisonSmiles 18 Jun 2015
In reply to google:

You sound so angry (capitals, accusatory to an entire forum of complete strangers you know nothing about) that you may well be the very kind of person I would be terrified of picking up. Brrrr.
 Baron Weasel 18 Jun 2015
In reply to PPP:

Top tip for hitchers - use a prop. I like to have a rope and helmet on display. Potential lifts see safety equipment and before they know it they are pulling over and asking where to? Broken bike wheels work well too
cb294 18 Jun 2015
In reply to google:

I will go on a 300 mi business trip later today, and will use a motorway junction that is the local starting point for hitching students, even though the direct route from my place of work would be via another junction. However, the main reason for using the using the car rather than the train is that I can go whenever it suits me best (i.e, whenever I am done with the lab work). Fixing a time through a hitchhiking app would defeat this point.

On the other hand, several of my friends who commute a similar route on a weekly basis use such apps to coordinate their Sunday and Friday trips, seems perfectly suited for this purpose.

CB
Rigid Raider 18 Jun 2015
In reply to Baron Weasel:

Spot on - my most successful hitching trips were when I had a climbing rope draped over the top of the 'sac and clearly visible so that drivers could see the purpose of my journey. Have never had to hitch home with a broken bike but I imagine that would have the same effect.

Towards the end of my hitching career I got it down to a fine art; cardboard signs were good but even better was having the courage to wait outside the motorway services cafe and actually approach people and ask them as they came out looking fed and happy. I was usually on my way within a few minutes, mostly with solitary reps in decent cars.

It's cheap bus travel that has killed hitching; why stand around for hours in the cold when you can spend a tenner and be there with no stress? Probably my most sucessful extrication was when I got stuck at a junction on the old A1 in a biting east wind. Realising my chances were very slim I went into the full charade of flapping my arms and rubbing my hands and very soon a car stopped with three elderly ladies inside, who told me: "We don't usually pick up hitch-hikers but you looked so cold....!"

My brother once hitched back from Skye to Newcastle on a hot summer's day and when he reached home he stank - he opened his 'sac and pulled out a plastic bag containing a shark steak that a fisherman had given him and was absolutely honking. We had to bury it in the garden. I felt sorry for whoever had picked him up.

 Simon4 18 Jun 2015
In reply to AlisonSmiles:

> you may well be the very kind of person I would be terrified of picking up.

He sounds like a Guardian reader. Not so much terrifying, more utterly tedious,stupid and predictable, an endless stream of sanctimonious preachy whining throughout the journey so that the main danger is that you lose the will to live and are seized by an overwhelming desire to crash the car into a wall to kill him, even if you are also killed in the process.

One of the problems of giving lifts is not so much that hitchers are dangerous, rather that they are very boring, not to mention the ones who ask you if they can smoke and get all outraged when you tell them firmly, NO. Then you start to smell that they reek of smoke that takes hours to get out of the car. When I spent some time in rural France, where public transport is quite poor and hitching is an accepted method of transport used by all sorts of people, I eventually stopped giving lifts - they were so cursory and curt, almost to the point of being sullen as if you were obliged to give them a lift and the quality of it was not good enough. You very seldom got more than a brief "bonjour" and "au revoir merci", both said in a deeply insincere tone.

On the other hand, I once gave a poacher a lift from close to London all the way to the Lake District. He was very interesting (and extremely frank), describing all different methods of poaching of various animals, keeping lurchers and the different laws and penalties that you were at risk of if you indulged in this activity. If you could suspend your personal morality, what he had to say was quite a revelation, also recounted in a totally matter of fact way, without either rancour or self-pity.

I also once got a lift from Courmayeur to the trans Mont-Blanc cable car station, after climbing the Aiguille Blanche North face and descending in a storm. I REALLY did not want to walk any further that day, certainly not the 7 or 10 km to the car park. Within seconds of hitching an Italian guide (retired, one might have thought due to his ample physique), stopped and proceeded to tell me, in the course of the quite short journey, why we had climbed the wrong route, used the wrong descent and should never, ever have stopped at the bivi hut we did. On the other hand he did take me direct to the car park and virtually to the car, so that I was back with my mate before he had even got his boots off, to his utter amazement.

2
Removed User 18 Jun 2015
In reply to Rigid Raider:

> It's cheap bus travel that has killed hitching...spend a tenner and be there with no stress?

What? Have you been on a bus? Full of twitching nutters and huge families moving all their worldly goods in massive plastic laundry bags.
They do run to a timetable, though, so I suppose that helps.
Removed User 18 Jun 2015
In reply to Simon4:

> He sounds like a Guardian reader. Not so much terrifying, more utterly tedious,stupid and predictable, an endless stream of sanctimonious preachy whining throughout the journey so that the main danger is that you lose the will to live and are seized by an overwhelming desire to crash the car into a wall to kill him, even if you are also killed in the process.

Never miss an opportunity to put the boot in, eh?
1
 Rob Exile Ward 18 Jun 2015
In reply to Removed UserBwox:

I cannot for the life of me see how Simon4 managed to infer that google was a 'Guardian reader' ; and then to have made that tenuous connection to get so excitable about it.

I wish I had a hobby that was as absorbing as S4s hatred of Guardian readers obviously is.
Jim C 18 Jun 2015
In reply to PPP:

I was heading back from Coll/Tiree on Wednesday morning and I gave a lift to a chap it was around 1:00am there was a lot of rain and flooding on the roads ! He was walking along the cycle path at Loch Lomond.

He Said he was out 'training' for some long walk or other, but was not expecting such heavy rain.

He was very wet, but I had got soaked myself cycling to my car coming off the ferry at Oban, so I was not at all bothered to have yet another wet person in the car. (other drivers might not have picked him up I reasoned)

He never did explain why he was out so late.
(I think he said he was from Essex, but staying in Dumbarton that 'night')

In reply to Neil Williams:
Neil 2 links thanks had seen blablacar it come up on a flight search
must be others and less formal and free for driver and hiker
 Neil Williams 18 Jun 2015
In reply to google:

Flights must actually be quite a good case for it as your times are fixed then.
In reply to AlisonSmiles:

Can you say that 'you' have never as a driver driven past a hitcher?
If so duly retracted.
???????????????
In reply to cb294:

Watford gap as brake point of M1/6 is a services I have called at sad that I do not bother any more as never see anyone
In reply to Simon4:
Simon, you say;

I eventually stopped giving lifts - they were so cursory and curt, almost to the point of being sullen as if you were obliged to give them a lift :

you are in my mind morally obliged to offer
and in Cuba its a requirement if in a Government car
Post edited at 13:47
1
 AlisonSmiles 18 Jun 2015
In reply to google:

Of course I have driven past them. I'm just me, though, not the UKC Collective.

Kind of reminds me of last week - some guy in my local town centre says good morning to me as I walk to the train. I say good morning back and he lets forth a tirade of why the last two people he said good morning to didn't respond and questioned what kind of upbringing we'd had. Random unconnected experiences causing us to react differently to later encounters.
In reply to AlisonSmiles:
QED. you could HAVE driven past me.

Love the uses of the word 'Them' as in, Of course I have driven past -------Them
Post edited at 14:19
 Wicamoi 18 Jun 2015
In reply to Simon4:

I note that google's "endless stream of sanctimonious preachy whining" had flowed over a grand total of three short lines. More of a trickle really. As a lift-giver, I'd be more concerned about your gushing torrent of opinionated, bigotty ranting.

But I've no doubt that in real life both of you know how to be a bit more pleasant to strangers, and I'd be happy to make both your acquaintances on the road some day.
 AlisonSmiles 18 Jun 2015
In reply to google:

Well, what other alternative word is there. It's not us, is it, unless I'm claiming to have hitch hiked, which I'm not.
Removed User 18 Jun 2015
In reply to google:

> in Cuba its a requirement if in a Government car

That's a good rule; maybe we should have it here. Though probably only much good for people hitching from Whitehall to Parliament Square, unless it could be extended to Diplomatic plates as well - then a fair bit of Mayfair would be playable.

I wonder if royal cars count as government cars, too? I'd be pretty cool to get picked up and go belting out to Norfolk, or Prince Charles' Dutchy biscuit factory (I assume he goes in to the office most days) in a Range Rover with police outriders.
In reply to AlisonSmiles:

other word, hitch hiker?
You know where i'm going in so far as ['they'] could be seen as a slightly derogatory / patronising term, They aka the little people standing by the road looking feckless no hope-ers
1
In reply to Removed UserBwox:

Government car,,,,, what I said. I meant, any car publicly owned.
so any council type thing it worked from what I saw in the short time I was in Cuba, it is the way Cubans get around.


Your comments remind me of walking into the top of a long glen with a hope of a lift out the 2 of us put 10 miments walking between us I at the front Range Rover pulled up along side me having picked up the back hitcher, yes hop in as I placed my hand to the back door the Laird said In the cattle trailer. 2 chocolate Labradors were sleeping and filling the back seat,

 nufkin 18 Jun 2015
In reply to google:

> so any council type thing it worked from what I saw in the short time I was in Cuba, it is the way Cubans get around.

Seems to be the same hereabouts - there's always blokes hanging off the back of the bin lorries, for example
Jim C 18 Jun 2015
In reply to Simon4:

Unlucky that the hitchhikers that you pick up are boring smokers , and the drivers that pick you,m up are know it alls?

I must be really lucky, I have picked up some delightful people , who have taken the trouble to thank me for helping them, and some even keeping in touch some years later. I will continue to accept , and offer lifts on the mainland or islands.

Ok I did get a bit Concerned when I picked up a chap in Ireland, who had been sitting on what turned out to be a huge bible !
In the event, he just told me briefly about the work he would be doing spreading Christianity abroad. He then got off at the next town.
In reply to google:

> the little people standing by the road looking feckless no hope-ers

To be fair, we are a cheeky bunch, standing at the side of the road and asking other people to give us free lifts.

Seems odd to think you have any "right" to a lift. It is a shame that the hitching culture seems to be dying out though. It is a useful, interesting, and usually fun way to get around.

In reply to Bob_the_Builder:

a fun way,a intreseting to travil but no, no right as such

jim c Bible thing reminded me of
Round Ireland with a Fridge

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Round_Ireland_with_a_Fridge
 Rob Exile Ward 19 Jun 2015
In reply to Jim C:

Reminds me of one of the worst hitching nights - a bunch of us - probably 10 by the end - had been stuck ALL NIGHT at some godforsaken services on the M6, when an empty double decker 'Gospel Bus' trundled out of the fog onto the M6. We were all so pi$$ed that we were cursing and flicking V's at it; but then it stopped, reversed back to the services and picked us all up! We had to take some tracts and listen to a sermon for 10 minutes, but it was worth it.
 Flinticus 19 Jun 2015
One night I remember my now wife and I hitch hiking from Holyhead ferry port (North Wales), heading to her home outside Shrewsbury.

It was a late ferry and we got into position to catch al the cars etc. coming off the boat. Not one stopped and we ended up sleeping under the awning at a petrol station that was closed for the night. Eventually got lifts the next morning(can't remember them now bar one guy who was a paragliderer(?) and was towing all his equipment. Somewhere in Betws-y-Coed, I think, we went into a garage shop to get some snacks. We had a mix of English and Irish coins (days before the euro). We had enough to get what we needed if we included an Irish 2p. This was refused and we were short and had to go without!

I never did much continental hitching but did hitch tp Paris and back twice. One lift was on the back of a motorbike going out of Paris, zooming along the autoroute!
 AlisonSmiles 19 Jun 2015
In reply to google:
Where has the world gone that an innocent word "they" is suddenly derogatory? I was using it in this context - word "used to refer to two or more people or things previously mentioned or easily identified" - now if I'd used the word capitalised, totally different meaning and emphasis.
Post edited at 11:26
 mark20 19 Jun 2015
In reply to PPP:

Used to hitch quite alot about 5-6 years ago in the Peak. It was usually quite easy if it's obvious you are a climber, and often quite interesting. Perhaps the most memorable was one evening at Stanage and it was getting quite late / dark and some bloke offered me a lift in the back of his van, but it was completely boarded up on the inside. I was trying to judge from the corners where abouts we were and that he wasn't driving off with me!
Last summer we thought it would be interesting to walk down the tunnel below Ravenstones after a days climbing and hitch back up the road to the car but no one picked us up in the 2h we were waiting, and we had to all the way back up the hill in soggy boots.
I rarely see hitchers though. Once a couple of lads going up to Stanage from Hathersage, and last night I picked up a couple hitching from the Grouse. I think I'd always stop for hitchers
 Flinticus 19 Jun 2015
In reply to AlisonSmiles:

Don't worry about it. The 'You' was self-rightous and accusatory and a wide shot at everyone bar the perfect 'google'. Given this indication of character, I would simply ignore 'google'.
 maxsmith 19 Jun 2015
In reply to PPP:
was hitching in snowdonia earlier this year and had to wait a fair while before I was picked up by a french family on holiday. It's a dying art in Britain sadly..
Post edited at 12:33
 deepsoup 19 Jun 2015
In reply to maxsmith:
Mark20 above reminded me that I picked up a hitcher earlier this year on the way back into Sheff from Agden Rocher, I'd quite forgotten. Oldish chap had walked out to the Nag's Head from Hillsborough for a pint (and who can blame him, it's a lovely pub), and while he was prepared to walk home he said his legs were a bit tired so stuck out a thumb.

Regarding the french, I spent a few days over in Connemara last summer and there seemed to be loads of french students cheerfully (and quite successfully) hitching up and down the West coast of Ireland.
In reply to AlisonSmiles:
Capital is / was just to put steers on, nothing more.

hitch hiking is the discussion however in reply a eg;

4 people in a room 1&2 are blind
3 asked 4 if THEY take sugar in the drinks ;

So to ME this is dehumanization that comes about by the use of the word they

3 could ask, do Jo & Chris take sugar?

its a very small thing, although it has a underlying that could led to misinterpretation / misunderstanding
G.
Post edited at 13:48
In reply to Flinticus:
In reply to AlisonSmiles:

Yes Don't worry about it !
 Toccata 19 Jun 2015
In reply to PPP:

Most surreal hitch was a uni hitching race to Paris. Fancy dress was the order of the day and two of us went in white tie on the basis that is was quite warm to sleep in if needs be. Took 5 minutes before a large Bentley (or Maybach or something like that - it was a long time ago) stopped and a sterling chap asked where we were going. Turns out he and his wife were off to their apartment in Paris for the week and would be delighted to offer us a lift. The most fascinating couple where conversation never missed a beat and we were both reluctant to leave the car on arrival, only a few hours later. I now always pick up hitchers if I can and have met some truly interesting people.

Oh, and we won the race.
 Stopsy 19 Jun 2015
In reply to PPP:

I remember walking from Gwern y Gof Isaf to Capel Curig, and on to Betws Y Coed and back with a friend when camping and ran out of money, about 6 or 7 years ago. On the same trip we walked from the same campsite to Pen y Pass (via the road, bad choice looking back) and up Snowdon only to meet two middle aged men in the cafe on top who remarked "you two were hitching by capel weren't you" ! Some great hitches on the continent, especially Kalymnos and Siurana where the more ferocious looking the local the more friendly they were once you got in!

On the flip side I've stopped for old men in SW Ireland, Germans on Skye, and one drunk old man near Llanberis who smelt of wee, take the good with the bad. I think an appreciation of what hitching is like when you don't get a lift does make you more inclined to stop for hitchers.

+1 to hitching as a male/ female couple as the best way, always far quicker.
 earlsdonwhu 19 Jun 2015
In reply to PPP:

Reasons include:-
-Lack of necessity for students as they can just add the travel cost to a student debt which is seen as a norm by many.
- Many lorry firms explicitly forbidding thei drivers to pick up hitch hikers.
- An irrational fear that all drivers are homicidal maniacs.
- An irrational fear that all hitchers are homicidal maniacs.
- Far greater car ownership so the pool of potential hitchers is reduced.
- A greater desire for certainty ie less willingness to contemplate that a journey's end time and route cannot be guaranteed.
- Less spirit of adventure
In reply to earlsdonwhu:

Interesting points.

> - Many lorry firms explicitly forbidding thei drivers to pick up hitch hikers.

According to lorry drivers I've talked to, it have more to do with insurance than the companies. Same end result I suppose.

> - An irrational fear that all drivers are homicidal maniacs.
> - An irrational fear that all hitchers are homicidal maniacs.

A guy in NZ told me once that the last hitcher he had picked up had nicked his wallet. I said I was amazed he still picked up hitch hikers, and he said it was so unlikely to happen again that he figured it was safe! Top bloke.

> - A greater desire for certainty ie less willingness to contemplate that a journey's end time and route cannot be guaranteed.

Last time I hitched in Europe I had to be in Ceuse on a certain date, so I had to start hitching over a week early and have some plans for what to do in the meantime. It took me 3 nights to get to Munich and then I hung out there for a few days before continuing. I suppose student debt is meaning people have less time when they're young because they're spending their time working to pay off the debt. I allowed more time to get to Ceuse than the length of the time there!

> - Less spirit of adventure

I hope that's not true.

I'm 24 and I hitch hike and pick up hitchers (Though not if they look like total nutters! Basic hygene, people...) so it isn't totally dead. Hitch hiking is alive and well in many other countries, NZ is an awesome hitching country from my experience, although old-timers there still say "it wasn't like it used to be," etc. As a hitch hiker I've had one bad experience with a driver and too many great experiences to count. Everyone should give it a try, the more people hitching and picking up hitchers the safer it will be!

 goatee 19 Jun 2015
In reply to PPP:

I regularly hitch when I visit the Highlands or Snowdonia. I never have difficulty getting a drive ( so far) and I hope to continue to be lucky. Latest effort was from St Girons to Seix in the Pyrenees. After 15 minutes or so a guy drove 6K out of his way to drop me at a campsite.
 earlsdonwhu 19 Jun 2015
In reply to Bob

> Last time I hitched in Europe I had to be in Ceuse Everyone should give it a try, the more people hitching and picking up hitchers the safer it will be!

It's the same as kids playing out.... The more there are the better the safety in numbers will be.

With students, I don't think there is the same focus on scrimping and saving now. The availability of easy loans did not seem to exist in the 70's. I am sure my grandparents thought the same about my generation!
In reply to earlsdonwhu:

> With students, I don't think there is the same focus on scrimping and saving now. The availability of easy loans did not seem to exist in the 70's. I am sure my grandparents thought the same about my generation!

I suspect hitch hiking to save money may be a false economy. I have no figures to back this up but I'm pretty sure in Europe I've spent as much hitching as I would have if I'd flown using Cheapyjet or similar, and within the UK buses are generally not too expensive. However my trips have been longer (including transit time) and you do (arguably) get a "richer experience" when hitching, so maybe it is better value for money?
 Dauphin 19 Jun 2015
In reply to PPP:
I love the nutters myself. Picked up this Gandalf looking chap on Mull one January, my mate was saying don't pick him up he looks crazy, streech, that's it get in fella...turns out he was from Holbeck, was kind of an installed hermit on the small Island V ? name. Brilliant stories about surviving the winter on venison and whiskey in his shack, never getting round in climb that big bastard -Ben More - despite stating at it everyday. Never had a nutty, weird or distressing lift although I'm sure they exist. As for west coast, stood outside Kinlochewe in a blizzard for hours one Feb, loads of traffic, nothing. Then this auld fella and his missus walked by with the dog, he says, if your still here when I get back I'll run you up to station myself...sure enough an hour later they invite me back to their place for a chat, brew and warm up and a long chat about the world, turns out they are a couple of total legends in their eighties, still cross country skiing. Amazing people, that afternoon made my trip worthwhile which otherwise was washout of bad weather, getting spooked and retreating off stuff. Ran me to station and made the last train back to Inverness with a couple minutes to spare. You meet some incredible people out there on the road.



D
Post edited at 23:21
 Chris H 20 Jun 2015
In reply to PPP:
I used to hitch a fair amount in my younger days - tactics included holding your sign upside down as people used to stop just to point this out and having a foam rubber thumb extension!

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