Back in 2005, my friend Elizabeth Dwoskin was interning for the Utne magazine. She published an article about hitchhikers who share their travels on the internet. I was one of the people she interviewed for the story.
I think because of fear generated by the media, hitchhiking today has nearly disappreared after being a legitimate form of transportation in the '60s and beyond. Today, the assumption is that either the hitchhiker or the driver who picks him up is a serial killer. Having said that, I once had a passenger in my cab tell me that he actually WAS picked up by a serial killer - Ted Bundy! - somewhere in the northwest, and that Bundy drove off with his backpack after they'd stopped at a rest area.
I think because of fear generated by the media, hitchhiking today has nearly disappreared after being a legitimate form of transportation in the '60s and beyond. Today, the assumption is that either the hitchhiker or the driver who picks him up is a serial killer. Having said that, I once had a passenger in my cab tell me that he actually WAS picked up by a serial killer - Ted Bundy! - somewhere in the northwest, and that Bundy drove off with his backpack after they'd stopped at a rest area.
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