The first words out of my older driver was "please!!!" I looked at him a bit confused. He then grabbed my sign that said Calgary and said "you should put the word please on your sign. Perhaps them more people would stop for you". He then went on a five minute rant about how many hitchhikers he sees but how none of their signs ever have the word please on them. It was an interesting comment that I have never heard before. I was a bit concerned that this guy was going a long distance and that I would end up being yelled at for the next six or seven hours. It was not a pleasant thought. But after his rather brief comments (although it didn't feel brief at the time) it was a reasonably good if short ride.
My driver was a bit of a racist when it came to discussing First Nations issues (I don't remember how that topic came up - I had had clearly no control of the conversation from the second I entered the vehicle). There were the usual comments about them being lazy and expecting too much from the Canadian Government with little or no understanding on his part of the cultural genocide that has been perpetrated upon the Indigenous people of this land. I have since wondered if my driver was just a bombastic speaker. That is he said everything loudly and forcefully perhaps either because no one ever listened to him and therefore he thought saying things stridently would get other people's attention or because he was a bit of a dominating control person/bully and did not know how else to engage in a conversation with a stranger. Regardless I decided to just let him say what he wanted with me trying to slip in the odd opposing point of view when ever I could. Fortunately for perhaps both of us, he was only going to Chase which meant that we were only together for 60 kilometers. If I thought about it, I would have bet that he would let me out at spot that he would tell me was a much better spot than where he found me. I would have won that bet. He did say exactly that.
He let me out a gas station. It was not a better spot. However, on the other hand I was a bit hungry. With the exception of a couple of apples and a granola bar, the last full meal I had eaten had been on the ferry 30 odd hours ago. So I bought some water and peanuts and as I munched hand fulls of peanuts and guzzled water ) water seems to weigh less inside me than carrying in on the outside of my pack) I made sure that all of my pack straps were tight. I then crossed the highway and stuck out my thumb. There was a bit of a curve so the sight lines were not great and the shoulder was a bit narrow. I was fairly sure that I would not get ride there but would need to walk up the road a piece. I would have started walking but I was quite sure that there was not a better spot for quite a few miles. I was feeling lazy and that I had done my share of walking that day.
I was delighted to be proven wrong about it being a bad spot when a large pick-up truck stopped for me after only being there for five minutes. In comparison to my previous driver, my new driver was an absolute delight. He was the kind of person who gives everyone hope for the future. He was 26 years old and from the Maritimes. He had come to B.C. with his girlfriend and her little girl to find a job so that he could support them well. He told me that he had easily found a job on a road crew and seems to have quickly been promoted into a more responsible position. He had a great work ethic but at the same time was clearly not prepared to pushed around by his bosses. He was already looking for a job that would be more permanent/less affected by the weather and the whims of a boss and would offer more chances for promotion. When I thanked him for stopping at what was a bit of a tricky spot especially for a large truck, he quickly brushed away my comments saying ' I was going in the same direction and I had room, how could I not pick you up?" If only more drivers thought the way he did! He was a decent young person working hard to support his family. I liked him a lot. I hope he does well and gets to be in a position where he can be a model for others. He would make a great teacher.
Unfortunately he was only going to Salmon Arm, less than an hour down the road. I was starting to be concerned that I would be faced with a whole series a short rides with potentially long waits in between. I had gotten stuck in that pattern a few times along this road. Short rides from locals are great but they consume time and don't get me very far. As we were getting close to Salmon Arm he asked where he could let me off. While my traditional answer is always "as far as you are going", Salmon Arms like so many towns along the Trans-Canada is stretched out. There is also a significant long hill at the other end of town. I knew that if I had to walk through town and up that hill, that by the time I got to the top of the hill it would be getting late. My chances of a ride would be diminished and I would have to find a place to sleep. So I told him that if he had the time I would love a drive to the top hill. He said "of course, I would feel bad if I was at home knowing that I had left you to walk up the hill". As I said - he was a decent guy.
He let me out at the top of the hill at a gas station. I crossed the gas station parking lot, scrambled down and then up a deep ditch that was thankfully fairly dry and was once again standing on the highway with my thumb out. It was just pass four o'clock. I had been on the road for ten hours and had gone less than five hundred miles. I needed to increase my speed somehow. Of course of all things that I think I have control over - I know that I have none over who picks me up and how far they are going.
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