Thumbing a lift

Los Lobos · 06-01-2017 12:58am #1

Is this pretty much a dead art now? Eyeballing a driver as he passes you, trying your hardest to make him pull in out of pity if nothing else.
Or stuck in the middle of nowhere after a house party at **** knows time of the morning, with the thumb out praying the next car will stop, so you don't have to walk the guts of ten miles to put the head down.
Or when there's four of ye trying to snake a lift to the next town, so one lad's thumbing while the other three hide in the ditch, and when a car pulls in for your man thumbing everyone bails in to the back.

You don't see people thumbing anymore round my way, what about yours?

myshirt · 06-01-2017 1:01am

If you shake it up a bit and signal using a hand shandy gesture you will typically have more success.

mzungu · 06-01-2017 1:14am

Los Lobos wrote: »

You don't see people thumbing anymore round my way, what about yours?

Not as much as 20 or 30 years ago when there was loads, but the very odd time you might come across one these days. Most likely because a fair chunk of young people have cars now, whereas back then they didn't.

eeguy · 06-01-2017 1:15am

People have mobile phones so they're not stranded any more.

DEFTLEFTHAND · 06-01-2017 1:19am

I still see people doing it on a regular basis. Always feel awkward when I 'pretend' not to notice them.

getzls · 06-01-2017 1:22am

Don't see it much now.
I usually stop.

nhunter100 · 06-01-2017 1:24am

I remember as a young student thumbing a lift from Galway to Athlone. Having walked all the way to Oranmore have a car pull up full of lads ask if I wanted a lift? Of course I said yes even though I thought it odd the ignition key was a 'screwdriver'. Wet day to cold to give a f**k. Sound bunch. Thumbing a dead art.

Robsweezie · 06-01-2017 2:03am

potential lift givers:

lone mother with kids = likely no
lone man = likely yes (hope they're not a creep)
lone woman = maybe, if you dont look threatening
lone man with kids = probably not

LETHAL LADY · 06-01-2017 2:22am

I used to thumb everywhere when I was a teenager as some of my school friends lived in neighbouring towns and villages. They would have done the same in return. It really stopped for me when women started going missing in the 90s. Most of the time you'd get lifts from grand folks, but I've had a few where I said a little prayer to myself to make it to my destination. Thinking back I took some chances really.

Surreptitious · 06-01-2017 2:29am

Once, me and my friend hitched a lift and these two knobbers drove the wrong way down the main road to freak us out. It took some ould lad who tried to molest me one day on a back road before I gave it up for good. I did meet some otherwise cool folk though, they were just the bad ones. Even met a guy who appears on the Late Late Show now as a self made millionaire.

JustAThought · 06-01-2017 2:44am

Have given a few a lift over the past years - mostly starry eyed tourists lost in the depths of nowhere walking along deathtrap roads in the dark - I'd be afraid someone would kill them before I did. Used do it a lot but woukdn't hitch myself anymore - one too many bad experiences. Same reason I would never ever couchsurf.

Muppet Man · 06-01-2017 3:02am

I remember thumbing out of cork weekly and you would have to almost fight for a good spot... Could easily be 10 or 15 hitch hikers in a row trying to get out of the city on a Friday evening, mostly broke students heading home (Early 90s)

fryup · 06-01-2017 5:41pm

^^^^^^^^^^

in the 80s in my locality there's road in which you'd wait no more than a minute to get a lift....but nowadays you'd be waiting for 1/2 an hour or more..people are more cynically minded now

seamus · 06-01-2017 5:44pm

Only people I ever heard of doing this were culchies from the deep bog.

Haven't seen a hitcher on the road in 15 years, never picked one up.

_Kaiser_ · 06-01-2017 5:52pm

Rarely see any and wouldn't pick them up..

- If it's a male then you're taking a chance (or may end up with 4 of them as per the OP)
- If female then you could potentially be accused or whatever, even if you're a perfect gent yourself
- Not to mention the potential drunkards throwing up/pissing in your car if it's that time of the night

No thanks.. I'll just keep driving I think.

riffmongous · 06-01-2017 6:08pm

Only did it once when I was hiking to a friends house for a party and came down off a mountain on a dangerous stretch of road and decided not to risk walking

Winterlong · 06-01-2017 6:45pm

We used to do it as teenagers. Short trips to neighbouring villages. Once did a 90 mile hitch to galway.
Worst thing about it was that most of the people who picked you up were bored and wanted a good chat. So the price of the fare was to chat to them all friendly like.
Once I got a lift from this old couple. They had a sheep dog in the back. The dog had puked in the back footwell which I did not spot until I was in the car. The smell was atrocious. I told the couple and they said that the puke was there sine the day before. Think that was the last time I hitched.

endacl · 06-01-2017 6:50pm

JustAThought wrote: »

I'd be afraid someone would kill them before I did

You do have to be on the ball with the auld murdering hitchhikers all right!

Parchment · 06-01-2017 6:51pm

i used to do it a good bit as an older teen/in my early twenties. I was always with someone though when thumbing a lift - we were always picked up by nice people.

Last hitcher i picked up was a female roughly my own age with a big backpack, she was hiking around Ireland. I had a great chat with her - we had a lot in common. My mom and my dog were in the car when we picked her up .

I also once gave a biker a lift to a petrol station when his bike had ran out of petrol on a motorway. I drive bikes myself so felt ok doing it as i recognised his patch. Nice guy and was very grateful.

fryup · 17-06-2019 12:31am

Does anyone do it anymore?

Kivaro · 17-06-2019 1:00am

The President gave me a lift.
He wasn't President at the time and he bitched about my father allowing me to thumb for a lift, but hey, I got home .... 80 miles away. And many of us did it back in the day. It allowed for more pints at the weekend, because we were dirt poor.

Thanks small man.

sligojoek · 17-06-2019 1:29am

I did it for years in the 80s . Nenagh to Killaloe, and Limerick and back. Always guaranteed a lift from the army lads going in to Limerick between 8 and 9 am.
Getting from Killaloe to Nenagh at 2 or 3 am was a different story. There was stretch called the "Hitchhikers heartbreak". You'd see the lights of a car coming for a mile and watch it pass at 60 - 80 MPH. Another would come and do the same thing half an hour later.

Twice I was molested by men who were seemingly nice when I got in. I got the number of one of the cars and reported it but nothing ever happened. Found out later he was a golfing buddy of the local super. 'nuff said.

I bought a wee motorbike shortly after that.

On a lighter note. Last summer I was on the way home during the day and saw two women thumbing on a similar Hitchhikers heartbreak. They were tourists trying to make a bus in the village, I got them there with 10 mins to spare and said goodbye. The following night they were in my local for the "Open mic" night. I didn't have to put my hand in my pocket once and we're friends on FB since and I'm following their ongoing world tour.

bodhrandude · 17-06-2019 1:42am

I done it a few years ago hitching back from Body&Soul Festival, it took me a few hours but I eventually reached Kinnegad, the first point of the journey where a Citylink Galway bus went through the town, you don't see it too much. But big events up and down the country you see the odd hitcher, I always remember loads hitching to the All Ireland Fleadh.

ardinn · 17-06-2019 2:22am

The last hiker I picked up was a fairly decent young wan about my age around 2004 - she kept givin me the eye and took her time getting out of the car with chit chat and was very suggestive - I was naive at the time and worried it was some sort of trap - It would have been way to easy! if it happened today id have tommed her to death! Pity it will probably not happen again! - Live and Learn!

cj maxx · 17-06-2019 8:34am

Used to hitch everywhere.
I particularly remember to usual trip home from cork up through the midlands. I always got stuck in co Longford for an hour .
The more unnerving moments we’re getting a lift in a hearse on Friday the 13 th :0 and the odd lunatic that drove at 100+ mph. Good points were the once in blue moon lifts that dropped you off near home.

realdanbreen · 17-06-2019 8:38am

seamus wrote: »

Only people I ever heard of doing this were culchies from the deep bog.

Haven't seen a hitcher on the road in 15 years, never picked one up.

You never picked one up!
Why are you so scared of culchies?

SuperS54 · 17-06-2019 8:40am

ardinn wrote: »

if it happened today id have tommed her to death!

:eek: What do you drive?!

https://i.imgur.com/VwRjtUV.mp4

Bob Harris · 17-06-2019 8:45am

I haven't seen anyone thumbing for years.
I used to do it a fair bit. I was still in primary school when I started in the late 80's.
You wouldn't see anyone doing it now let alone a child.

Wildly Boaring · 17-06-2019 8:48am

Bob Harris wrote: »

I haven't seen anyone thumbing for years.
I used to do it a fair bit. I was still in primary school when I started in the late 80's.
You wouldn't see anyone doing it now let alone a child.

Still see some tourists. Two fellas in lahinch yesterday. I picked up a German couple at fermoy last summer, got them to cahir.

whisky_galore · 17-06-2019 8:50am

Usually either crusties with rucksacks or the local 'professional drinker' looking for lifts.

OldMrBrennan83 · 17-06-2019 8:52am

I've seen 3 in the past couple of weeks. Gave one lad a lift but the other two looked like I'd have ended up chopped up in a bin liner.

Thumbing a lift

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