I thought that we should have a separate thread for this topic.
I was once investigated for the serious crime of hitchhiking. While searching me, The cops found a cigarette lighter and NO CIGARETTES! What could this pervert & dope fiend be lighting up!? A campfire? Gosh, I never thought of that! And I suppose the knfe, magnesium fire starter, 550 cord, whistle & mirror with a hole in the center are survival items? Good thing we caught this guy. I bet he was going to smoke some dope, then tie up some people, stab them & set them on fire while blowing the whistle! Another major crime wave prevented by good police work!

Anything can be taken out of context. We set ourselves up doubly so without any context at all. A simple crib sheet such as Doug's basic information in his kit is IN ENGLISH. It's called communication. If hitchhiking is a offense as decided by the people for the common good( just as often the hitchiker ) the onus was on YOU to defuse the situation. Years ago I worked under the infamous Jose Menendez duplicating videos on the graveyard shift. We had a latex costume of Gumby from a local promotion. I donned said suit , wattled to the nearby freeway overpass and waved at the big 16 wheelers passing below at 2 in the morning. CHP rolled up behind me and I had some explaning to do. A. the patrolman was cracking up B. in all seriousness said I could distract a driver and C. the local sheriffs were usually much less humorous ( very true) PSKs are not some secret masonic symbol among the initiates and the rest of the world something less for their ignorance. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Hitchhiking is illegal in NY, but must not be a serious offense, since the NYS Trooper just said to stop & don't do it again. How else is a college student with no car supposed to travel?

Gumby??? Every time I think I saw it all in my 30+ years someone comes up with something that I missed...