Would you like to give lift to a stranger?

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I do not know about other countries, but in India, taking or giving lift is quite a popular phenomenon. On his way, one can always manage to find, a few people standing, a couple of meters ahead of him, with great optimism shining in their eyes, and their thumb, proudly pointing towards the direction you are going. I have seen that, they do not mind, if some of their requests are ignored. Like true optimists, they keep on trying, as if they know, that sooner or later, they will be on their way, comforting themselves on someone's Two-wheeler! The definition of lift in the 'travel context' would be, providing transportatic assistance to one or more persons, usually during emergencies, without expecting any favors in return. The emergency may range from empty pertol tanks to punctured tyres to even lack of money. Some of them like to save their bus fare, while others are in a too much of a hurry, to wait for an auto rickshaw, a taxi or a bus. So they like to take chances, like to convert every possible opportunity they see coming on their way. Most of the 'lift takers' are students or service class people. Often, I come across small kids, who do not have money for their bus fare. Then there are hawkers, generally selling newspapers, and they need to shift from one 'churaha' (square) to another, and they too, can be seen asking for lifts. The tradition is that the males largely dominate the 'lift taking community'. I have not seen many ladies asking for lifts. And as a rule, no female will ever ask a male to give lift. At best, she will request another woman on a Two-wheeler to help her. This rule holds true vice versa as well, and I have not seen any exception to it till date. Most of the time, people take lift, I drop them to their desired destination, they say 'thank you', I smile in return, and then, we go out way. Sometimes, we have a little chat on the way. Communicating with different people, with different backgrounds, different age groups, getting to know different views, and ideas.. its a great learning experience in itself. But then, giving someone a lift is not a party at the beach side. It could be extremely risky business at times, as you have nothing to gain but everything to loose. You might end up giving lift to some anti social elements that might rob you out of your money, vehicle, jewelry, and even ... life. This is one of the major reasons why people avoid giving lift to strangers, and I respect their sentiment. However, I do not have had any bad experience, and I generally like to look at the brighter side of life. As far I am concerned, giving lift to someone is an intuitive decision for me. I generally give lift to people, if I could see their thumb gesture well in time. Sometimes, I stop, even if I go past a few meters, and I can see the lift takers, coming on to me running, with each step of theirs sounding more enthusiastic than the other, with a big thankful smile on their face, as they comfort themselves on the Two-wheeler. I am constantly repeating the word 'Two-wheeler', as generally, one does not ask for lift in a Fore-Wheeler/Car. The only exception to this rule can be seen in rainy season, when people do try to get a lift in a car to avoid the rain, and their wish is generally granted. To sum up, lift giving is an act of satisfaction for me, as it feels good to help someone selflessly, and to see smile on their face, and gratitude in their eyes. In fact, in a busy life of ours, where one hardly gets time to do something for others, it feels got to do little things like these - they give a nice feeling somewhere inside me. That's it from my side. Now let me hear something from yours as well. How is 'lift trend' in your country? Do you often give/take lifts? Do you lie to do that? What is your stand on giving/taking lifts? Do you have any interesting 'lift-giving/taking' incident to share? If yes, you're most welcome in my space.... Cheers!