America's bicentennial by hitchhiking across the country. Somewhere in the wilds of West Texas, I was picked up by a pair of very young uniformed cops in a neat little white two door
It was not my favorite pickup but they seemed friendly enough, and I decided by quick reckoning that it was better to accept the ride than to decline, so I climbed in the backseat and then noticed a hashpipe in the ashtray and perhaps (?) a very slight odor to the vehicle. Here I thought it better not to know too much and to say even less, so this all produced no reaction from me
However, my gracious hosts were apparently determined to press the point, so told me that they were returning from some police training graduation and were celebrating but had exhausted their supply -- and hoped I might have something combustible to share with them. Now, I was dressed somewhat like a hobo, barely twenty, with a full beard and hair to the middle of my back, so it was a reasonable (and accurate) guess that I might use various illegal products for recreation
But I made it a habit never to hitchhike with anything that could get me thrown in jail, so I was quite legal that day at least
Still, I did not feel comfortable making any such confession to these benefactors: there were two equally plausible possibilities -- that I had gotten a ride with a couple of rookies who were also freaks or that I had gotten a ride with a couple of rednecks who hoped to make a bust on the day they graduated from their training class. So I simply said No matter-of-factly, and when they hoped further that I might know where they could score something I said matter-of-factly said No once again. They were satisfied, to my relief; the ride continued pleasantly; and they dropped me off a hundred miles later, at which point I finally stopped wondering if I was going to land in some rural jail on trumped-up drug-peddling charges
= new reply since forum marked as read