Hitchin' A Ride

A thumb goes up, a car goes by.
It's nearly one a. m. and here am I
Hitching' a ride,
Hitching' a ride.

Gotta get me home
By the morning light.

I got no fare to ride a train,
I'm nearly drowning in the pouring rain
Hitching a ride,
Hitching a ride.
Gotta get me home
To my baby's side.

No, I have never actually hitchhiked, which would probably surprise you if you knew anything about my sordid past! I am however known for getting rides from people at the times I need them most. It's a skill I developed a long time ago that comes from not having owned a car in more then 15 years. The skill involves looking slightly pathetic, you should preferably be carrying a lot of stuff and it helps a lot if the weather outside is horrible. Very few friends and co-workers can be cold hearted enough to walk past you with their automatic car starter aimed and ready and not offer you a lift.

Today was a new one for me though. Liam and I went swimming at the wave pool. It's a 15 minute bus ride from our local mall. The bus only runs every 30 minutes, so timing is key otherwise you end up standing on the side of a 4 lane highway in the freezing cold for far too long. I had worked out the bus times to get us there but neglected to figure out when the bus went past for the trip home. So after drying off and getting changed and back into our many layers of winter gear, I inquired at the front desk if they knew what time the bus went past. An older woman who had been in the pool with us (and whom Liam splashed and subsequently had to apologize to) suddenly offered us a ride.

A complete stranger. Had we lived anywhere BUT Halifax, I would have said no on the spot. Halifax, despite it's size, still holds onto small town attitudes and neighbourly-ness. So we took her up on it. We had a lovely chat during our 10 minute drive, though I never did find out her name.

I have to admit that I did have a brief moment of wondering if this was such a good idea. I watch an awful lot of CSI and Law and Order, so I had a host of plot lines running through my head. Then I figured that I could easily take her if it came to that! Of course it never "came to that" and Liam and I were safely deposited back at the mall.

It's going to make the whole "don't talk to strangers" talk a little harder, but it was worth not having to stand in the cold for 30 minutes!