By Eric Hires of The Thumbs Up Project

Eric and Winston, two friends of Jedidiah, are embarking on a road trip across the western United States to tell the story of a group of people that is often neglected and even feared – hitchhikers. People that, for various reasons, are trying to get somewhere, or in some cases anywhere, on the kindness of a stranger. As we post their stories, we hope to inspire positive interactions with the people in our daily lives, just as we have asked in this month’s Community prompt: “Share a story of an unexpected act of kindness in your life.”

From Eric:

Due largely to the media and some bad horror movies, picking up hitchhikers often comes with some chastisement from your mother about how dangerous it is. We are going to find out.

Our truck runs off waste cooking oils and is loaded down with camping, climbing, and filming equipment. As we travel around the west climbing and visiting various communities we are committing to pick up every hitchhiker we see, and become their friend. Learn their story. Why are they hitchhiking? Where are they going and why? What experiences have they had along the way?

We don’t know where our journey will lead or how long it will take, but we are going into it with open minds and an open door.

***

Driving down the Pacific Coast Highway for two whole days was breathtaking, but still left us without having passed a single hitchhiker. We rolled into Santa Barbara Outfitters early Monday afternoon to ask about nearby climbing spots. Phil was super helpful and even got off work early to go climb with us at “Lizard’s Mouth”. Phil scooped up his buddy Max and met us up on the mountain. We hung out and worked on bouldering problems for a few hours and learned about our new friends. As the sun dipped into the Pacific we shared a bottle of “Two Buck Chuck” and watched the lights of the city and oilrigs come alive.

Our plan had been to sleep in the back of the truck as we had been doing the past couple of weeks, however Max and Phil’s offer of a shower and couch was too good to pass up. Max cooked up a huge pot of pasta and corn on the cob and we hung out into the night. These two college students showed us the kind of uncharacteristic hospitality and kindness that makes your soul smile and restores one’s faith in humanity.

***

Go here to share your own story of an unexpected act of kindness for this month’s Jedidiah Community Series question.