Hitch Hiker

So, you're probably wondering what brought this topic up. Well, every once in a while when I'm driving to my place, there's a homeless guy that shows up. He's there maybe once a month and all he asks for is money. And for some reason I don't ever give him any. It's probably because I'm usually grumpy because it's usually after work and no one can drive in Ohio. So, most of the times I just want to get to my apartment and I don't want to deal with anyone, ha ha. Well, on Friday, as I was driving towards my apartment I came to the same spot and the guy wasn't there. But, none the less I started to think about the time that I picked up a hitch hiker. So, here's the story.

I believe that it was either summer or fall 2005. I had started working at ticketnetwork in february so I'd had already been there for a while. A friend of mine from my church was getting married in Albany, because that was where his wife was from. It was a Saturday wedding. Well, I stayed for the reception a little bit and then decided to get back to Connecticut since it was like a 2 hour drive. One thing I really like to do is just drive on the highway and cruise along listening to music and sing along. It's probably a good thing no one can hear me, he he. Well, I had needed gas so I stopped somewhere near where the NY & Mass borders meet. I think the NY throughway had just turned into the Mass Turnpike. So, I stopped for gas and I decided that I needed something to drink because it was around 8:30 PM. So, I pulled off at a gas stop and got gas. I decided to go into the store there and get something to drink & eat. As I was walking into the store there was a guy who had asked a lady for a ride. She said no. He then turned to me and asked me where I was headed. I told him Connecticut. He then asked if I could drop him off near Springfield. Now, I'd like to say that from the goodness of my heart I decided to take him with me, but to be honest I was kind of like a deer in the headlights and I just mumbled yes. Well, after I got my soda & candy I went over to my car and I looked around for my new passenger and I couldn't find him. Now, most people are thinking, WHY ARE YOU PICKING UP A HITCH HIKER? Well, too be honest I kind of tried to get out of it. See, I didn't see him around me so I waited a second and then started driving back to the turnpike. Well, as I got to the on ramp I saw him pick up his stuff and walk to the road. Part of me wanted to keep on driving and not worry about it. But a bigger part of me felt bad for the guy so I pulled over and picked him up. Now, some people would be worried, but I really wasn't. See, I use to carry a hidden weapon in my car. No, it's not a gun or a knife. I have a 4 cell maglight in my car. It was hidden on the left side of the driver's seat and you don't even know it's there. Pretty cool. If there was any funny business and I could easily take that sucker out and let the person have it. So, I wasn't too worried, plus the guy seemed pretty nice. So, I figured that if we kept talking then things would go just fine. And you know what, that's what happened. I drove him for about an hour and a half and we talked the entire time. It was actually pretty sweet. His name was Bradley, well at least that's what he told me. He just came to the NorthEast from California. He was making his way to N.H. He wanted to build a cabin before winter started and live out there for the winter. The next day he was going to buy the tools that he needed and go live there. I thought that was pretty cool. I could never do that. We talked about growning up and stuff like that. How we got where we were. He even offered to buy me a beer once we got to where he wanted to be dropped off. And then we talked about girls. At the time I was interested in someone(no, not Maureen). I was upset because as much as I wanted to make a move on this lady I had not yet. He told me to stop being a wuss and go for it(and no, I never really did. I don't count making a fool of myself while I'm drunk as going for it). He then told me something to say to get a girl that I'll never forget. He said to go up to her and say "I want to f*ck you tonight and make love to you in the morning." Now, I don't remember this because I thought it was a good line to use and honestly I don't even know why I remember this. I think it was just because of everything that was going on. Now, to my knowledge I never used this on this lady and if I did, she never told me the next day. I just thought the line was funny and I knew I could never say it. Now Perrotti and Rob, you have my complete approval to use this on as many girls as you want. So, just before I got to our destination, I received a phone call from a friend of mine because a bunch of them where at some party up near Uconn. So, as I dropped off my guess of about and hour and a half, I informed him that I would not be able to make it for the beer(I was also kinda paranoid that something would happen if I did. I kinda feel bad about it, but I figured I was pressing my luck already) and he picked up his clothes from my back seat, I offered him one of my hoody sweatshirts because I knew it was going to be really cold in N.H. And that was that. I made it back to Ct. I actually showed up to the party just as my friends were leaving and I'm pretty sure we went into Hartford that night and had a boring time, because after all, Hartford is really boring. Well, I've never heard from Bradley again. I don't think I would have since I never gave him any contact information. I hope he made it out of the winter alive. Now, whenever I see a hitch hiker, I always wonder if I would have a good time like I did the first time. But, I don't think I'll pick anyone up because there's the chance that I'll ruin my perfect record of having a good experience driving someone completely random in my car who I just picked up off the highway. Ha ha.