When I was younger, and still living in South Africa, I did a lot of hitch hiking. I didn't have a car of my own and by and large hitch hiking was a dependable way to get around. I had a few incidents, but not many. Some amusing, some less so. Here's one of the amusing ones.
I was hiking back from my sister's place in Table View to the flat in Milnerton where I was living with my mother. I got a ride from a young gent, who was eating a pot pie as he drove. (I must pause to say that pot pies in South Africa are usually one hell of a lot tastier than American ones.)
He had another one, a chicken pot pie, and offered it to me. I was touched. I said something like, "Gosh, it's not often that someone will just give you a pot pie."
"Well," he said, "you get nothing for nothing."
I wasn't so much shocked as his proposition as amused that he thought me so cheap. A pot pie? You've got to be kidding. But I just answered, "Umm... never mind."
He continued to try to convince me to "go out for a drink" with him, but I was steadfast. I got back to my flat and we parted ways. But he let me keep the pot pie after all. Nice of him.
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