which was interesting. He was an older guy almost my age that hadn't hitch hiked in a over 30 years and told me he won't try that again when he gets back to Denver.
I picked him up in New Jersey getting gas and hauled him to close to the PA/OH border and dropped him off at a truck stop.
He was outside a diner I stopped at on the way home from NYC, a drive that I truly loathe. This meant I got a chance to check him out for signs of drug/alcohol influence and to make sure he didn't smell bad. He seemed OK so I told him to hop in.
He didn't have much, he was somewhat homeless and had a job of sorts at t homeless shelter that fed and sheltered him and gave him a couple of bucks to buy basic incidentals with.
What interested me about this guy is why he was traveling. He was scratching a couple of items off of his bucket list. I can see that and I'd probably do the same thing if I wanted to see those two places.
He wanted to see the Statue of Liberty and Yankee Stadium before he died. When I met him he had. He had just spent a couple of weeks in NYC sleeping on the streets and/or wherever.
He managed to see the Statue of Liberty and had found a building where he could look into Yankee Stadium and that was good enough for him. He was headed back to Denver.
I was annoyed. I hate the ride home from NYC and was in 'mission mode' The only thing I was interested in was getting home.
On the other hand, he was enjoying the ride and in the process it made me feel rather dumb. I wasn't interested in smelling the flowers like I generally am when I travel.
He brought me out of a slump and after a while I started to relax a bit and enjoy the ride a little more.
He also reminded me I have a halfway decent place to live and a good vehicle.
Sometimes you have to meet someone like that to get your perspective back and I'm glad I helped him out.
On the other hand maybe the guy was a hatchet murderer that gave me a break. Who knows?
I took a chance and it cost me nothing. In fact I met an interesting person as a result.
To find out why the blog is pink just cut and paste this:
http://piccoloshash.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-feminine-side-blog-stays-pink.html NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED IN THE WRITING OF TODAY'S ESSAY
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