[lupusyndrby9]

Isn’t that kind of a lesson learned though? Hitchhiking is illegal for a reason. We don’t let children run as freely outdoors . A lot of states are rewriting or adding exemptions to statutory limits on pressing charges and suing for certain crimes because they happened during a period of time where people assumed you could trust people more. Being cautious and distrustful of strangers with mental issues is a very productive way of thinking. I get people think it’s a fren because fren shaped but give em a couple bucks , and contact a professional to get them help. It sucks there are so many mentally ill people on the streets. That doesn’t make them any less dangerous and the honest truth is there’s a weird line between personal freedom and mental illness that means it’s their right to be a crazy homeless persons. You can clean em up set them up in apartment but you can’t force them to use their benefit payments to pay the rent, keep their apartment clean, or take their medicine. Help them if you can , but please please also don’t forget that people are dangerous. Use some common sense, the last thing anyone needs is more people in the news getting hurt by people with mental illness . It’s just makes it that much harder to get compassionate care for the rest.

[rwmj]

Wait, hitchhiking is illegal (in the US presumably)? (Supplemental question: how do you make hitching illegal?)

In the UK I've met many interesting people both while hitchhiking myself, and while picking up hitchers. It is a practice that seems to have almost entirely disappeared here, not because it's illegal, but I guess because most people now have cars and some "stranger danger" worries.

[lupire]

https://hitchwiki.org/en/United_States_of_America

As for "how": legislature passes a law against it like any other traffic law. Similar to jaywalking or prostitution (soliciting sex on the side of the road).

[ekjhgkejhgk]

You should watch Rambo: First Blood. Great movie.

[aleph_minus_one]

The (US-American) title of the movie is only "First Blood". :-)

Only from the sequel on ("Rambo: First Blood Part II") "Rambo" is part of the film title, see https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rambo_(franchise)...

[Der_Einzige]

It’s sadly the only good Rambo IP.

[lupire]

https://hitchwiki.org/en/United_States_of_America

As for "how": legislature passes a law against it like any other traffic law. Similar to jaywalking

[mmooss]

> a lesson learned

It's certainly a perspective of many, but many others think it's wrong, that children should run freely (there's a whole movement around that), etc.

> please please also don’t forget that people are dangerous

IME from a life spent in cities has taught me that people - strangers, unhoused people, etc. - are great. Most will be happy to to help, have a pleasant conversation, etc. (Read Jane Jacobs who, iirc, examines it in detail.) Humans are social creatures - we don't live alone, we're made to socialize and live in groups.

You need to be a social creature too and read people a little. Obviously some people aren't in a mood to interact; don't be rude or an idiot (they'll probably ignore you). And there's risk to everything - you can die in an accident but still travel by car; you can catch diseases but you still leave your home.

Really, the exception I think I see at a higher rate is apparently wealthy people. Maybe they aren't accustomed to the need to help each other, but there seems to be a culture of anger toward those who might need some help today. Why don't they just support themselves like I do?

[lupusyndrby9]

I know there's been kind of a counter movement about allowing kids to run free ... that doesn't mean it's a good idea. My wife and I survived, but our childhood involved a lot of freedom in the outdoors, and physical abuse. She was hospitalized a few times while intermittently homeless growing up. I was never quite that poor and could run faster, so maybe it's a social class thing? Affluent children can run free in their safe neighborhoods? I wouldn't reccomend it for everyone though, because there are predators everywhere.

My life has experience has taught me by and large people are pretty cool too. It's also taught me that the cool ones and the dangerous ones look exactly the same. Bad guys don't have horns, wear masks carrying large dollar sign bags or look like sihloutted trench coats lurking in a alley. So you gotta ask yourself if it's worth the risk.

I volunteer with emergency services and hope to open a clinic with my wife next year focusing on helping foster children with mental illness who tend to age out the system and fall through the cracks. The subject of mentally ill homeless people hits very close to home and I'm 100% on board with getting the homeless whatever care they need. That does not make the concept of untrained randos inviting mentally ill homeless people into their homes any less of a ridicously bad idea.

[mmooss]

I'm not downplaying what you and your wife went through, which is outrageous. And generally speaking, it's 100x harder as kids.

> I volunteer with emergency services and hope to open a clinic with my wife next year focusing on helping foster children with mental illness who tend to age out the system and fall through the cracks.

That's fantastic, whatever our debate about the details. Thank you.

> you gotta ask yourself if it's worth the risk.

There's always risk in life, as I said above. The level of risk is the key - the likelihood and the amount of harm - and that's debatable.

For kids, by far the most child abuse (as I'm sure you know) is by family and people the family knows. Staying home may be less safe. I just don't see the risks as worse than car accidents and other dangers.

Also, I don't know that I agree "there are predators everywhere", except as a sort of logical truth - predators aren't limited by geography. There are rabid dogs everywhere too. I doubt predators - which, come to think of it, is undefined and sounds like a bogeyman sort of term - are limited by wealth.

But of course, everyone needs to think and act intelligently. You don't let your kid go down the street where the prostitutes or drug dealers hang out.

> the cool ones and the dangerous ones look exactly the same

That's not my experience, but of course nobody can know for sure - that goes for family and coworkers too. Coincidentally, I ended up in coversations today with three apparently unhoused people today. The idea that these people are dangerous somehow is just not plausible. After the third conversation, I made an inside joke I have with the person next to me 'homeless people are so dangerous!'. We both rolled our eyes.

[closewith]

Is hitchhiking illegal in the US?

[amanaplanacanal]

According to the Wikipedia there are laws in some localities, but I don't think they are widespread.

[SpaceNoodled]

Yes.