A man who hitchhiked has said his mother now thinks he’s a bad person after he got a lift with a driver and spoke to them.
The man, who wrote about his experiences on the social media platform Reddit, recounted his mother’s reaction to his travels.
He said he was autistic and sometimes does not notice some social cues.
He added that his mother told him never to hitchhike with a single-woman driver as she believed it would cause them to feel bad.
The man wrote: “For some context, I (29M) have an eye condition which will always prevent me from acquiring a driver’s licence.
“In addition, I am on the ASD spectrum (autism) which makes me not notice social cues many times.
“Anyway, I was visiting friends at the weekend who live in a rural area with very little public transport, and after my second bus connection went by without stopping, I was left with no option but to hitchhike – which is a very common practice in the area they live in.
“So I waited at the bus station with six other people (four people that looked between 20 and 25 both male and female and two older women probably around age 40+) who were going to various destinations.”
The man added: “After many cars went by that none of us needed a car pulled up in front of one of the women standing there and the driver (around 25, F) asked if she needed a ride to the place I was going to.
“After all the people at the station declined, I said I needed a ride and was told to get in the car.
“During the car ride, the driver asked me questions, and I answered them – we ended up having a pleasant ride since she works in my field and we could both commiserate about it.”
The man added that when he spoke about it with his mother, she was displeased with him.
He said: “I had a very nice weekend, but this morning when I spoke about it with my mom she told me I am an AH.
“According to her, I should never hitchhike with a single woman driver even if she offers as it causes her to feel bad, and also because (again according to her) I should never speak to the driver while hitch-hiking.
“If the driver asks me questions I should always just use one-word answers so as not to disturb the driver.”
Following, his post on Reddit, some users replied with their views on how his mother had handled the situation.
One wrote: “From my experience with watching crime shows It is incredibly risky to hitchhike with anyone.
“Woman man or otherwise. But sounds like it worked out and you had a good time.
“I’d say your mom has seen stuff like that on the news and shows and was worried about your safety, it just kind of shows it in a different way.
“As well as being autistic there are many cases of ASD people being taken advantage of. Idk how far or where you sit on the spectrum but that’s another thing to consider. Be careful out there.”
