I remain fascinated by the idea of ‘social proof’: if other people are doing it then there must be a good reason.
Commuters hop in strangers cars for ride share across the Bay bridge in SF. They hop in strangers cars if there is an Uber logo on them. But somehow hopping in a strangers car whose only motive is generosity is crazy unsafe.
If I were a psycho itching to pick up a victim I would print out an Uber logo from the internet and just drive around waiting for people to hop in my car.
Driving around looking for hitchhikers would be insane since you would run out of gas before finding one. So it makes no sense to be afraid of premeditated psychos, just the spontaneous psychos who get triggered by an opportunity. And that spontaneity could just as easily happen in an Uber or ride share.
I started hitchhiking in the Puget Sound area in the 70s when I was 14. I learned early that cars that passed by on the interstate went to the next exit, turned around, then came down my exit ramp invariably had drivers looking for sex with a young boy. But all in all, it was mostly safe and sometimes fun. I still haven’t told my parents though.
You can’t go wrong with Sinclair Lewis. That is one that I haven’t read so I will check it out.
Obviously, there is nothing involving other humans that is without risk. Plus I have had the luxury of white privilege to insulate me from some potential dangers. But in general, my experience is that people are not a threat, and treating them as such in every situation serves no good purpose. Travel in general exposes one to both good and bad, and on the whole is a net positive for all concerned.
this, thankfully, never happened to me. i did receive rides from a number of inebriated drivers, and some who expressed some pretty reprehensible opinions about the world, but that was as unlucky as i got. though one time a driver demanded that i, a ragged and unwashed street-kid, pay them in cash for the ride…
