Two desperate women, one stopping car, and the angry lecture that saved them
A man has offered a ride to a passenger. I just assume this whole idea of accepting rides from strangers is a movie thing.
What you need to know:
- There are real-life risks of hitching rides from strangers.
- My friend experienced unexpected but life-changing encounter with a mysterious driver.
The scene played out as it always does in all the movies I have watched: It starts with a young woman stranded in what looks like the middle of nowhere. Or in a strange city, with a host who cannot be traced on the phone, and the night is fast approaching. Well, there are many variations of this scene. What follows is a car driving past her, and then reversing.
Usually, the car has a lone occupant; a suave young man. In a baritone voice, the man will proceed to offer the woman a lift. There will be initial hesitation, followed by the stranger’s reassurance: “I am harmless, I just want to help.” Any reservations the woman might have had will be dissolved by that sentence and she will follow him into the car. Most times, the story ends well, sometimes they even fall in love. But that is in the movies.
Thank God
In real life, when a private car I do not recognise stops or slows down near me, I take to the hills – I have never stayed long enough to hear what the occupants want. Well, “maybe they just wanted to ask for directions”. I hear you. Thank God I am not the only person in Nairobi, they can ask someone else.
For a long time, I just assumed this whole idea of accepting rides from strangers is a movie thing because, did we not all read Kidnapped by DK Wacira while in Standard Eight, and know that if you get into a stranger’s vehicle, you will be used as human sacrifice? That storybook instilled the real fear of God in me. It might not be the only reason, but it is a big part of why getting into a stranger’s car, whether at night or during the day, is completely impossible for me.
I have been thinking a lot about the amount of risk tied to accepting a free ride from a stranger after a recent conversation with a friend.
“My friend and I were running up the Museum Hill roundabout. It was raining and it was getting darker and darker. Suddenly, a car stopped next to us, and the driver asked if we would like a ride. Thinking God had sent angels to our aid, we got into the car and settled. There was another man in the co-driver’s seat,” my friend said.
I was curious about what happened to them. The fact that she was sitting in front of me was reassuring – at least she was not used for money rituals.
My friend continued: “As it was still raining, the Good Samaritan offered to go with them to a nearby restaurant where he and his friend were headed, for a meal, and we could find our way home from there. We both agreed because the place was not too far out of our way.”
It was after the food was served and they were about to start eating that they received the most abrupt lecture of their lives.
“The man suddenly turned. He was extremely annoyed with us. He called us foolish girls for accepting to ride in a stranger’s car and even following the same stranger to a destination of his choice! He reminded us that he could be anybody and we made ourselves easy targets of bad characters. My friend and I were taken aback!” she said.
The man allowed them to pack their food, and gave them money for bus fare, and told them to find their way home immediately, after a parting warning never to accept rides from strangers again.
In retrospect, it began to make sense the magnitude of risk these two had taken. It is a relief that things did not only turn out alright for them but also left her with a lesson she says will serve her for the rest of her life – no amount of pressure can make her accept a ride from a stranger.
I know that God did not give me the spirit of fear but of boldness, love and sound mind – but you see that boldness to enter a stranger’s car? That one did not come in the package I received. My friend’s story was a reminder that I should keep things that way.
Do you guys ever accept free rides from strangers? What makes you that confident?
The write is the Research & Impact Editor, NMG ([email protected]).
