Giving Rides to Strangers

So the other day I was leaving the gym, and these two guys were standing outside the door asking folks for a ride. Apparently their car had broken down and they needed to get to a gas station (i think it was a gas station they said, i forget that part). You're always taught to not take rides from or give rides to strangers, so instinctively I said no. Didn't wanna come off rude, so I made up some BS response about how I was headed in the opposite direction that they probably were able to tell was a lie. When I got in the car I felt bad because they probably weren't looking to rob and decapitate me and probably were honestly in need of help. If that was true then I hoped that they found a good Samaritan that did but like I said, you're always told to be weary of people you don't know.

Have you ever given a total stranger a ride, or have you been in a postition where you needed to go somewhere and had to ask around for a ride?

First instinct....hell no. But, in that situation, I would've helped by calling someone out to help them.

I have been in a position where I had to ask a stranger on the street for a ride or some kind of car help. It's one of those situations where you just hope someone can see that you're genuinely in need and that they have a big enough heart to spare a moment for help. You have to be careful because it's a crazy world and there are sincere seeming lunatics out there, but at the same time it's good to give help when you can - even if you have to keep your defenses up. What goes around comes around.

I've never given a stranger a ride and I've never gotten into a stranger's car. And there's no need to feel guilty about it, JB - they could've been a couple of lunatics, and quite frankly, I think it's stupid of them to ask people for a ride because no one in their right mind is going to do that in this day and age.

MandyPerfumeGirl wrote:I've never given a stranger a ride and I've never gotten into a stranger's car. And there's no need to feel guilty about it, JB - they could've been a couple of lunatics, and quite frankly, I think it's stupid of them to ask people for a ride because no one in their right mind is going to do that in this day and age.

That's right, because today everybody is looking out for number 1, so what if other people have to suffer? it doesn't involve them, so it doesn't matter.

This is a gray area for me. My uncle's brother gave hitchhikers rides all the time, and then one day the two men he was giving a ride to killed him. My uncle was crushed, because they were twins so one felt what the other did and all that, but that didn't stop him from giving hitchhikers rides either, and nothing ever happened to him.

Now the thing I wonder is who is at the greater disadvantage when it comes to hitchhiking? Is it more dangerous for the person thumbing a ride, or is it more dangerous for the person who lets a stranger into their car? Obviously either way something could go wrong but does anybody know what the ratio is of who is harmed more often in these cases?

Now, there have been a couple of times in my life that I have been offered a ride somewhere when I had my hands full, and I declined, partly because of yes that gut instinct that reminds you of all that stranger crap you had hammered into you as a kid, but also because my brother was on his way down to pick me up anyway. And on one hand, though I never took anybody up on their offer, I was thankful that they DID offer to help me.

But then you have to consider the other side of this, wasn't it said that Ted Bundy found his victims that way? Pretending that he needed a ride somewhere and had his hands full or something? Of course, that seems to be a rarity, and whether it's because most people aren't like him or because most people will not give strangers lifts and won't accept lifts from strangers, I don't know.

Don't do it. It is the nature of the beast...beast being ill society. You just don't know what will happen.

Never did it. Once I was driving at night in the summer and was approached by this drug addict. He came up to my passenger door, my window was down and so he asks me for a ride down the street to pick up some weed. I politely declined. He was "Oh come on, just down the street will only take a minute." Once again I say no. Thankfully my passenger door was locked cause he tried to open it. I sped off.

I never have picked anyone up and unless I thought they were in danger, I don't think I ever would. If I thought someone was just in need, I would make a call. I've never hitchhiked either but one time I was looking for an address in downtown Newark and I asked directions from a family in a car. They told me where I needed to go and then offered me a ride. Which I took. I think it was more a leap of faith on their part. They could have been giving a ride to a freaky white boy. Well, technically they were, but I meant no harm. :biggrin:

RobbieFTW wrote:Never did it. Once I was driving at night in the summer and was approached by this drug addict. He came up to my passenger door, my window was down and so he asks me for a ride down the street to pick up some weed. I politely declined. He was "Oh come on, just down the street will only take a minute." Once again I say no. Thankfully my passenger door was locked cause he tried to open it. I sped off.

Something similar happened to me once. Once while I was at the gas pump, this woman who looked like a some sort of drug addicted prostitute approached me, frantically asking if I could drive her to the nearest bus stop. When I hesitated, she became almost hysterical and fell to her knees begging. It was fortunate that a bus stop was right there in front of the gas station. I pointed it out to her and she was on her merry. No way was she was getting in my car.

Never have and never will.