:: Trying to keep track of it all... ::

:: 1.11.2004 ::

The hitchhiker's dilemma

Over christmas break one year (circa 1992?) when I was in college, some friends (Nejem, John, and Jesse) and I were driving from my house on Cape Cod to Johns parent's cabin up in New Hampshire where we were going to stay for a few days.

We were just toodling along in, I believe my dad's old Volkswagen Vanagon, on our way north. It was late afternoon and we were kinda hungry so while going through Boston we decided to stop for dinner. We unanimously agreed to go to one of our favorite places to eat when in the Boston area, Pizzeria Regina.
Now ordinarily stopping for eats in Boston wouldnt seem like such a bad idea, but Pizzeria Regina is in the North End, and if you are at all familiar with the North End you know that 9 times out of 10 theres nowhere to park a regular sized car much less a VW van. Plus it was dark, and a weekday right around rush-hour, and about 10 degrees below zero so the odds were very much against our parking anywhere nearby. We also only had enough money for the pizza so a parking garage was out.

After aimlessly driving around the cramped streets for an hour or so we decided to just get a pizza to go. I dropped John and Nejem off out front and then Jesse and I proceeded to drive around the North End until the pizza was ready.
After about a half hour or so I pulled up out front of the restaurant where Nejem and John were waiting with a couple of steaming pies, they jumped in and we headed for the on-ramp.
Of course by now we were in the thick of Boston rush-hour traffic and the on-ramp to the highway was backed up right onto the street. We got in line with everybody else and slowly crawled our way towards the highway.

We were scarfing our pizza while we waited to get on the highway, and as we progressed slowly forward, we passed a hitchhiker at the base of the on-ramp. I cant for the life of me remember what the destination on his cardboard sign was or where he was going, but I do remember that it wasnt anywhere we were headed.
He looked pretty miserable standing there in the freezing cold Boston night, surrounded by slow moving cars, and as we passed by Nejem opened the window and asked him where he was headed to.
He pointed to his sign, said he'd been standing there for hours and asked if we could give him a lift. Nejem told him sorry, but we werent going that way.
He looked a little crestfallen, so Nejem asked him if he was hungry, and held a piece of steaming greasy pizza out the window. The guys face lit up, but with his big backpack, bulky gloves, and cardboard sign he didnt have a free hand to take the dripping pizza.
At this point traffic was starting to move a bit faster up the ramp and he was walking slowly along side us unable to give up the idea of a piece of fresh pizza. Nejem was still holding it out the windowbut the guy just didnt know what to do with it.

Finally as people behind us started beeping irritatedly Nejem said, "Hey man, hold out your sign".
After a second or two, he took his cardboard sign, held it out like a plate and Nejem put the pizza on it, the grease from the cheese immediately obliterating his hopeful destination.
At this point he was running along side us shouting a thanks and trying not to stumble as we drove off up the ramp and onto the highway.

As I looked back at him out the rear window I remember he stopped running and was just standing there looking down at his bounty of cheesy pizza and his ruined sign, and he looked... well, very conflicted.
I have a perfect mental image of that momemt for some reason. And to this day have never forgotten the look on his face. Not happy, not dissapointed, just, conflicted. Happy to have pizza, but unhappy to still be on the side of the road at night, and now without a sign.

I think unwittingly we may have tapped into something very elemental in human nature that night. Not sure what, but theres definitely something there.
Something to do perhaps with where we are ultimately trying to go in life... and the need for a slice of pizza.

:: Zachary 1:34:37 PM [+] ::
...