I haven't stuck out my thumb in years

A recent notice from the Phillips County Sheriff’s Department advised residents not to call the department about a hitchhiker near Malta unless he wandered into traffic.

Apparently the mere sight of the hitchhiker had been enough to prompt folks to call to the cops.

How times have changed.

Hitchhiking didn’t used to draw that kind of attention. Not so many years ago it was an accepted mode of travel, and my favorite. There was something wonderful and freeing about it.

You just couldn’t be in a hurry.

I once waited so long for a ride that I eventually set up camp and spent the night. Shortly after sunrise traffic picked up a bit on that lonely stretch of northern Minnesota highway and a car finally stopped for me.

It was a bit like flying Southwest Airlines today.

While hitchhikers used to be so common the sight of them didn’t prompt folks to call the cops, that didn’t mean cops didn’t pay attention to hitchhikers.

On more than one occasion I was asked to move on. The police in Livingston were so nice they even once gave me a ride out of town.

In the movies it’s always the hitchhikers that are the bad guys. In reality it was more often the sketchy folks that picked me up. I never had any truly bad experiences but endured some creepy rides.

Maybe that’s why I quit. I can’t remember exactly why I gave it up, but I haven’t stuck out my thumb in years.

Neither, apparently, has anyone else. I can’t remember the last time I saw a hitchhiker.

Now it appears to be such a rare sighting that people call the police when they spot one.

Hitchhikers used to be so common they would line up and take turns at busy interstate on-ramps, many holding signs advertising their destinations.

It was car-pooling before car-pooling lost favor and folks decided they’d rather drive by themselves and spend all their disposable income on gasoline.

Maybe it’s no longer popular because all the old hitchhikers were eventually murdered or grew up to be responsible citizens who won’t pick up hitchhikers.

Either way it’s been forever since I’ve seen anyone at a highway intersection trying to get a ride, and not a handout.

I worry the younger generations have little or no interest in adventure or travel.

If they did we’d see a lot more thumbs out.

Parker Heinlein is at [email protected]