Hitching a ride in Virginia
If you can recall Vanity Fare singing these lyrics to their 1969 hit Hitching A Ride then you recall the days when hitchhiking in Virginia was quite normal. It was typical to see men and women standing on the side of a road or highway with their thumbs up and running fast to get in a car when it stopped for them.
A thumb goes up, a car goes by
It's nearly 1 AM and here am I
Hitchin' a ride, hitchin' a ride
Gotta get me home by the mornin' light
Are your memories of the creepy 36 episodes of the HBO series The Hitchhiker ((1983-1987) coming to mind? Many people over the decades have traveled the nation by safely hitching a ride but in Virginia today it's not officially illegal to solicit a ride from strangers. there are pedestrian laws in place to discourage this practice.
Hitchhiking is officially illegal in six US states
Perhaps someone reading has a personal story about hitching across the state or the nation. Maybe you know someone who has been diagnosed with Hitchhiker's thumb disease where the thumbs bend backward as if they are trying to get a ride when they are not.
Can you even recall the last time you saw someone seeking a ride on the side of a Virginia road from strangers? I have not seen this done in quite some time. There are six states in the US where Hitchhiking is officially illegal. They are Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Wyoming.
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