Dad was a Navy man, and I remember him telling me that "back in the day" if you wore a military uniform you could easily hitchhike cross country. But then after Nam and the 60's he actually told me that he would not recommend the military to his worst enemy...in a matter of a few short years the military went from being revered to a group that was often spat on.
That reminds me of the time that me and my buddy, now a retired Army Ranger officer, went to Eastern Oregon, from his family's home in the Eugene area, to shoot jack rabbits. We borrowed his dad's pickup and headed out. We got near Baker City and looked for a good spot to camp. It was on private land but what the heck it was nothing but scrub brush and we figured it was no big deal. When we were about 100 yards off the highway our drive line broke and we were stranded with no cell phone which weren't around in those days, so we set up camp and went to bed. The next day we figured we had to get back to his family home where his dad would handle the problem. We packed up our belongings in two back packs. The problem came when our rifles, even broken down, wouldn't fit without the barrels sticking out. He wanted to keep the rifles in the truck with the doors locked and I said that the guns, including two revolvers with belts and two hunting rifles, needed to go with us because they might get stolen. So, we took the guns with us. Now, this was the next day after sleeping on the ground so my hair and beard looked pretty wild with rifle barrels sticking out of our back packs. As you might guess we had a hard time getting someone to pick up two hitch hikers like us. Finally a guy picks us up who sold Bibles. He was pretty weird and I prayed WE would be safe until we got to wherever he might drop us off. He dropped us off half way home and we were thankful for the ride. The next ride was prtty hard to get but we finally got one an made it to my buddy's house. I still think back to that Bible salesman and recall just how weird that was. Funny thing is, I can't recall a single thing about the second person to pick us up which I attribute to how normal he must have been.
Here's another. 4 of us were driving back from a visit to California. I was behind the wheel. We saw a hitcher on the road, and my friend in the front seat ordered me to pick him up. As I was pulling over, he told the rest of us "Nobody say a word to him. Make him sit in the middle." So he got in the middle of the back seat, and we drove in silence for maybe 20 miles. Then my pal turns around suddenly with a wild expression and says to the guy "HAVE YOU EVER TASTED HUMAN FLESH?" barfo
It was not nice. But also very funny, and after getting the reaction desired, we all had a good time for the rest of the ride. barfo
It's the kind of fun college kids do. It's also the kind of fun that college kids do best. Really clever in my opinion.
Oh yeah, some of the shenanigans I pulled as a teen were downright funny, but some to this day, make me wonder "WTF were you thinking?" 1. Funny; Setting a paper bag of shit on fire after placing it on the door step of someone's house, ringing the doorbell, then running like hell. 2. WTF were you thinking ?; Flushing the toilet in the restroom at school and then instantly throwing in a lit cherry bomb/ M80. And this doesn't even count the dumb things that could have gotten me killed...but hey, when you're that young you think you're "bullet-proof".
Ok, one more. I was sixteen, just got my driver's license. Passed a scruffy hitcher on the highway as I was heading home from school. Had no thought to pick him up, but my engine died just as I passed him, so I pulled off the road. He naturally thought I was picking him up, so he ran up and jumped in the cab. Eventually I got the truck started again and I dropped him off a few miles up the road at my turnoff. No raping or killing happened, as far as I can remember. barfo
Hmmm...I'm assuming you're are no longer as "gullible" but I gotta ask anyway...Would you be interested in buying out my portion in a time share?
Your offer is generous, but I'm still paying off the 23 time shares I already bought. If only you'd contacted me last week! barfo
