English Hitchhiking
In 1972 I was in England with my friend Ben, a traveling
companion I had met on the plane (Icelandic, of course). As you
say, it's not hard to meet up with compatible folks when you're
traveling single. We had hitched out to Stratford-on-Avon to
see a Shakespearean play (Titus Andronicus, if memory serves).
We were a little nervous about getting back to our B&B on time,
as it was run by a crotchety old man who bluntly told all his
guests that he didn't hand out house keys and he wasn't staying
up past midnight for anyone, so be home by 12:00 or else. After
the play we stood by the road for a long time, finally being
picked up by an American couple. He was some sort of academic
who was on a year's exchange program, and they and their young
son were staying in some other professor's castle for a year.
They dropped us at the crossroad that would lead back to our
B&B, and said goodnight.
Minutes passed, then half an hour; we
knew now we were too late and were wondering what to do when our
kindly friends showed up again. They said they realized that
nobody would be coming by at this late hour, so they invited us
to spend the night at their place. Thus I spent my one and only
night in a castle. The walls were stone, and thus pretty
chilly, and the stone stairways narrow and rather treacherous, I
thought, but who would not want to live there, at least
temporarily?
I got a room to myself, but Ben was put in with
their two-year-old son, who took waking up to a strange roommate
without comment, just big round eyes. In the morning they fed
us and took us back to the road, where we said goodbye with many
thanks. We soon caught a ride back to the B&B, to find that all
our things had been packed up and thrown out into the hallway.
The crotchety old man couldn't have cared less about our
adventure, and let us know that we were no longer welcome under
his roof since we couldn't abide by his one simple rule.
One
certainly meets people from all portions of the kindness
spectrum when traveling!
Maggie
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