A Free Ride

On my very first trip to New York I hitchhiked and arrived with very little money, no clue of the culture and after one day realized something about New York that I would carry with me for years and years – Go with an expense account.

After a night in the YMCA, my second day in town was spent trying to determine where to stay and how I might be able to afford it. Luckily through random selection I was adopted by four very nice girls from Boston. We had met at Rockefeller Center and they had been sent by their company to attend a conference on fashion and design. Their days we’re pretty booked but the nights were free. And since they were on an expense account and I was poor and not going back to the YMCA, they invited me to stay with them and basically be their escort. I don’t know how many dreams come true when you’re only 18 or so but this was definitely one of mine.

They were staying at a nice hotel but there were four of them to the room. I presented a bit of a logistical problem. I would wait my turn in the room for the bath to be free and I would sleep on the little couch that was next to the desk. In the morning about 7 A.M. they had to scurry out to make their meetings and I would linger in the room reading the paper and ordering room service. As I watched them scrambling to get dressed and ready I realized that I had grown up without a clear appreciation or even a remote understanding of what it meant to be a girl. I mean that by growing up with five brothers, the mornings were quite different. After about 4 days of living together and observation I decided that it was way easier to be a guy. Remember though that that was then.

Every day was a different venue. I would go with them to plays and TV tapings and a bunch of other tourist stuff too. For my part, I enjoyed their company and generosity and ended up seeing New York from a prime ticket perspective. At night when we would return to the room we would talk and talk about Boston and school and Toledo and lovers and just stuff.
After about a week, it was time for all of us to part and head home. I had to get to New Jersey where I could catch the turnpike west and home. And they were flying from JFK. We got a cab and they dropped me off at the entrance to the Lincoln tunnel. From there I would try to get a ride to New Jersey. I spent 4 hours with my thumb out and not even a slowing car or a glance came my way. I got pretty frustrated and decided to go back to the Port Authority where I had landed originally. Maybe I could catch a bus and once out of town I may be able to attract a ride home.

The bus driver stopped mid-stop to let me out and cautioned me about hitchhiking as it was against the law in New Jersey although many still seemed to find their way and ride using a simple sign and thumb action. My OHIO sign was pretty big and it was really obvious that I was soliciting a ride – That’s what the New Jersey state police said when they picked me up. I sat in the back of their car and we drove for about an hour until they dropped me off in a place called Lakewood. They thought it was pretty funny and I thought that the entire experience was quite surreal.

To recap, I had been out for 7 hours since the girls dropped me off and no closer to my destination. I caught a ride from a truck driver back to New York City and after another couple of hours I was back at the bus station. At this rate I figured that I’d be back home in a month or so. With my last few dollars I decided to buy a bus ticket home. It cost $27 one way and the schedule said it would be a 16 hour trip. There must be a better way so I called the airlines and they had a flight from Newark to Toledo on standby that cost $29 and I’d be home in a couple of hours. I decided to fly; duh.

I took the bus from Manhattan to the airport and waited in standby. All said and done it took about 11 hours total for me to go from cozy hotel to assigned seat on an airplane home. I don’t think I ever hitchhiked again after that or ever needed to. As the plane took off and I sat back in my seat I looked out at the lights and the roads below thinking of my new friends, my New York experience and how blessed I was and still am.

Gary
From the Book of Szen