posted August 08, 2014 02:04 AM            

Several years ago there was a woman in my city that was posing as a hitchhiker, and of course men were offering her rides. When they would drop her off, she had a group of men waiting to rob the guy, and they murdered several men, until they were finally caught.

Also, sex trafficking is a world wide business, and an attractive woman is putting herself at a huge risk by taking that chance. In the US they've been cracking down, doing a sting that involves sex trafficking along the interstates, since they can travel over a thousand miles before anyone even knows the person is missing. Literally thousands of young women have ended up as sex slaves, and runaways and hitchhikers are easy prey. In Texas there are tons of "Discoteques" which are really brothels, which consist mainly of women who were trying to cross the border, or get a ride after crossing, that end up beind forced into prostitution. There are also Asian and Russian versions, mostly "massage parlors" where people help them get to the US, only to prostitute them.

The timing of this thread is weird because just 2 days ago a woman waved me down on a very deserted road. Her bike had a flat tire and she asked me for a ride. If I had a truck, I might have allowed her to ride in the back, because I was concerned for her safety being in such a secluded area alone at night. Luckily I was in a small car, and there was no where to put her bike, so it wasn't even an option, unless she left her bike. The thing is, that after I drove off a truck passed me going her direction, and I did a U turn to see if they picked her up. I just had a sick feeling that something was not right. I assume they did pick her up because she was gone, but the truck did not go in the direction of where she said she was headed. They turned around and headed in the direction of where she came from. I honestly think it was a setup, because the woman looked like she did hard drugs, and I think her and an accomplice were looking for someone to rob.

posted August 08, 2014 03:30 AM            

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Originally posted by PixieJane:
Will you stop being ridiculous about guns? Most men aren't going to assault a woman hitchhiking with a gun, and most men with a legal gun aren't going to use it to harm someone else on the road. I know my cousin gives people he doesn't know rides and he has a gun rack in his truck. Even if he did decide to rape a woman hitchhiking or if he and the boys decided to attack a couple of hippies on the side of the road then taking away his gun isn't going to stop him, and even with a gun he probably wouldn't use it in a crime (makes too much noise, and then there's the forensics to worry about).

Btw, a carload of boys did attack a guy I know, getting out of their car and coming at him with bats he pulled his revolver and told them to think about it. They did and ran. He shot no one. That meant his having a gun prevented violence whereas otherwise who knows what those boys would've done to him with their bats.

One county had the police give women free training in the use of guns and in that one county rapes (most rapes committed without a gun) dropped about 90% (though in part because the news showed several hundred women taking the course and the police encouraging the women to use their guns in self-defense).

And strict gun control in Mexico, Russia, and parts of the UK doesn't mean they all get along or don't attack and prey on each other, whereas Switzerland seems a friendly place even when you see motorcyclists with an assault rifle strapped to their backs. One of the friendliest states in the US is (or at least was) Vermont and guns are easy to get there and ubiquitous (most of the rare gun violence comes from drug smugglers who use the state as the people tend to leave them alone as the state with easiest access to guns isn't paranoid).

I don't mean this to say "guns are the answer" or "more guns means less crime" and I think many people here are paranoid and get crazy with guns and I consider the NRA a national embarrassment (btw, it's only about 5% of US gun owners who are NRA members, IIRC), but what you're saying over and over sounds just as absurd to me and plainly false, at least about how getting rid of guns would get rid of our violence and paranoia or that it would help people be safer while hitchhiking (or safer in picking up hitchhikers).

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No, what I mean is that having so many guns in one country, speaks about the people living there are paranoid that bad things happen… I have made a similar topic in my own country about hitchhiking and here everyone was very encouraging and actually it is pretty normal to do around here. If you don't dare to hitchhike in my country people thing you are paranoid (and it's a bad thing)

posted August 08, 2014 08:32 AM            

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Originally posted by next to neptune:
It is, people around here are so trustworthy! I can really sense the difference in here… in US everyone always thinks the worst thing are going to happen. And I understand why because of your gun-policy. The murding rates are very high, and in Europe no one has guns, especially up north (thats where I'm from) it gets better and better…

All you US people, you should really consider trying to remove all those guns from your country, it makes you all too paranoid!

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If you live in an area where you feel truly safe, then hitch hiking would be a good way to get from place to place if you do not have any other means.

posted August 08, 2014 12:54 PM            

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Originally posted by sweet-scorpion:
Really good points. Interesting, we have similar feelings and the same Moon sign. Except, mine is in the 9th. I'm SO careful and cautious about long distance travel and plan everything out to the last detail. The idea of hitch hiking is not only dangerous to me, it's insanely unpredictable and makes me nervous.

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posted August 08, 2014 04:20 PM            

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Originally posted by StarlightSmileSupreme:
If you live in an area where you feel truly safe, then hitch hiking would be a good way to get from place to place if you do not have any other means.

In a dangerous area, it's pretty obvious why I posted what I did. I didn't mean it toward you personally, just anyone living in the US is taking a risk when they hitch hike and it's not just because of guns. It's because there are psycho predators prowling the streets looking for victims and often hitch hikers are one vulnerable group they prey upon. Since most cannot tell who is nice and who isn't, it's a bad idea to hitch hike with strangers over here. It could mean being murdered and not just that, tortured first. So I would never tell anyone to do this over here.

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posted August 08, 2014 04:43 PM            

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Originally posted by next to neptune:
You are probably right, I don't live over there so I have probably no idea about how dangerous it is… it's still a shame though…..

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*agrees*