A Thumb goes up...

To the tune of "Hitchin' a Ride" by Vanity Fair: A thumb goes up, A car goes by...and a guy leans out the window and shouts "Get a car hippie" and bounces a beer can off my head.
What happened to hitchhiking? When I was a kid they were everywhere. My dad, being the kind of guy that would enjoy some light entertainment on long trips and wasn't scared of anything, would sometimes stop and pick them up. I think hitchhikers hope the aura and mystery of someone on the road will save them but the truth is my old man wouldn't buy any of that. "Where are you going pal?" My dad would offer. "Where the road takes me man". My dad would chuckle. "Get in" So where you from...blah blah blah" My brother and I would be looking at the guy's beard. They always had a beard and it was a good indicator of how long they had been travelling and indeed where they slept and what they ate. Occasionally we'd be thrown by straw. It could be what they slept in or what they ate. Seriously, the beard is a dead giveaway. Perhaps beards went out of fashion at the same time hitchhiking became taboo.