… commuting to work at age 10 …
Getting to work at a root beer stand can be a real challenge, especially when you are only 10 years old.
West Markum Street in Little Rock was residential on one side and the State Mental Hospital was on the other. The hospital grounds were very open with grassy hills. The walk to work was downhill – so not too bad – unless it was raining – plus I was excited to get to work. The eight blocks home, however, was hard. They were all uphill and I was tired from working.
Heading home one day I stuck out my thumb – I guess I had seen that in a movie. A lady stopped to offer me a ride. She asked how far I was going and why I needed a ride – I told her. When she dropped me off at the top of the hill, a half block from our home on Spruce Street, she suggested I not tell my mother about the ride as my mother might be upset.
You see, the driver was black. In truth, I had a hard time deciding whether to get in the car or not.
It was 1952 in Little Rock, Arkansas; the integration of Central High School would not happen until 1959, seven years later.
I was a white 10 year-old boy and she was a black woman.
Yet I was hitchhiking home and I was tired – I needed a ride.
I believe you should not ask for help and then not take it – you take the help – and you say, “Thank You.” There may be exceptions, but you get my point.
I think when you decide to ask for help, you should know whom you are asking and why. Are you just being lazy? Is it something you could do yourself? Are you asking a person who can really help you? Can you ask for help too often?
These questions are more than I considered at 10 years old, but as I got older and started to make more of my own choices I continued to ask myself these questions.
Did I make the right choice by accepting the ride from a stranger – near the State Mental Hospital? It was a different world in 1952, yes, but were we more trusting of people who were different then? I think not.
What about today? Do white folks have trouble accepting a ride from a black person? Do black people turn down rides from whites?
Do you pick up hitchhikers today – have you ever? Have you ever hitchhiked? What would make you not accept a ride?
In the movie Wild with Reese Witherspoon, did you find the hitchhiking scenes scary or funny? They were scary to me.
As always, the conversation starts here.
I never give hitchhikers a ride, it feels too risky, but it doesn’t have to do with skin color. I have been brain washed with the worry of “stranger danger”. However if I saw a little kid of any race looking lost and walking down the road, I would probably stop to see if they needed help, or a ride. That being said, I would have a stroke if I found out my kids hitched a ride with a stranger because they were too tired to walk home!
Sara, I have thought about your comments. You are 100% correct. “Stranger Danger” is real – children should be given this important message. As for my experiences – there are many stories in my life, both as a child and adult, where I have caused others concern – I am sorry for that. You said you would “have a stroke.” I am surprised my mother didn’t have a stroke and I am equally surprised my dad didn’t kill me for being such a worry to them. I need to think about this more: was it in my parent’s background –… Read more »
I grew up in a small rural town in the deep South, where there were only 2 races (at that time) – white and black. And contrary to popular belief, both races were around each other all the time…at school, grocery stores, the Dr’s office (there was only 1), the movie theatre (yep…only 1 of those too), gas stations, etc. So, I guess you could say that I saw my “first person of a different color” from the time I could walk. However, other races were a different story. My ex-husband was the first Asian (half Japanese, half white) and… Read more »
Cindy,
Thanks for you comments. Yes, it is amazing what we see when we get out from under our protective bubble. I would like to hear what else you have experienced with your travels and relationships with those not living under the same bubble.
Let’s talk more soon.
––Bruce