Adventures of a Hitchhiker - A Night at The Opera

There's a lot to assess when hitchhiking. Of course everyone understands the assessments made by a driver as they see a hitchhiker, but few consider the assessments made by the hitcher. It works both ways of course. Lots of strange people hitchhike, like me for example. But there are people out there far stranger than me driving cars around and some of them pick up hitchhikers as readers of 'The Centrefold' episode of this series will be acutely aware of.

I do have faith in the good in people. I believe that the chances of being picked up by someone who poses some kind of threat is extremely unlikely. This doesn't stop me from being vigilant though. It only takes one wrong decision to get into all sorts of trouble.

The hitchhikers assessment process begins as soon as I see the potential lift. Sometimes I get a good look at the driver as they slow down to pull in beside or in front of me. Other drivers slow down later and pull in way beyond. Some drivers like to give themselves a little more thinking time, they want to see you approach the vehicle in their mirrors and see how you behave when you get there. Other drivers may only have seen you at the last minute causing them to be further on up the road.

I usually don't read too much into how a driver pulls over. The decision must be made upon meeting the driver. I have to say that in all of my time hitchhiking I have never looked into a car, spoken to the driver and had an experience that stopped me from taking the lift. Although in hindsight there are a few that I wish I hadn't bothered with but that's surely inevitable.

The most interesting 'pull over' manoeuvre I've witnessed came from one of the most interesting characters I've encountered on my adventures. I was somewhere south of Birmingham on the M5 and I was headed back down south to Croyde Bay after a short spell in Wigan. It was 1993.

The slip road that I waited at the top of was steep. It ran down onto the southbound M5 where plenty of cars were flying past below at 70mph plus. The slip road had a small hard shoulder making it ideal as a pick up point. I always try to visualise the car pulling over to pick me up whenever I choose a location to hitch. This was a great spot that allowed drivers entering the M5 a little time to see me, make a decision and pull over safely on the slip road.

The guy who pulled over to pick me up had different ideas. I was standing about 15 metres down the slip road. The cars approaching down the M5 could see me almost as well as those entering it on this slip road. I eyeballed them occasionally when nothing was coming down the slip road. As I was looking up the M5 I noticed one of the drivers flick on the hazard lights of a black BMW and swiftly pull over onto the hard shoulder at the bottom of the slip road.

Before I knew what was happening, the reversing lights came on and the driver began to reverse up the slip road towards me. I was gobsmacked. He drove like the Duke boys straight up the hard shoulder as fast as his car would go before screeching to a halt a few metres from me. As the dust settled, the driver opened his door and got out. Once again I was gobsmacked as I looked at this chap. He was tall, he was black and he was wearing what looked to me like a tuxedo but the black coat hung down at the back to his shoes which were jet black and well polished. 'Can you sing?' he asked me with a huge, wide smile. His smile was then matched by mine as I said 'Let's find out shall we...where you going?' He laughed loudly and said 'Ilfracombe...what about you?' 'Ilfracombe' I said and he laughed again. I wasn't actually going to Ilfracombe but it's just a few miles from Croyde Bay in north Devon, I was both surprised and delighted.

Of course I was still in a bit of a tiz when I got into the car. I wasn't sure what had surprised me most. The way he pulled over and reversed up the ramp, or maybe the way he got out of the car asking me if I could sing. Maybe it was because he was wearing the tux outfit, maybe it was because he was a six foot six black man. Remember this was 1993, I'd only ever met two black people in my life.

As he drove away, he very politely introduced himself to me as Andrew. He spoke in that BBC received pronunciation accent that they drill into people at private schools. I wasn't surprised looking at his clothes and nice car. I told him who I was and that I was actually going to Croyde Bay. He laughed again as he knew Croyde Bay. He'd been there on holiday himself in the past. He insisted on dropping me off at the holiday camp where I worked and lived. Again I was delighted.

With the introductions over I needed to get down to business. 'So you're a singer then?' I asked him. 'Yes...opera. Do you know opera?' he replied enthusiastically. The list of surprises was getting longer and longer. Unfortunately I was unable to surprise him in return as I said 'No I've never heard any opera.' I tried to surprise him a little by adding 'I sing on Tuesday afternoons in the bar on the holiday camp' but this didn't seem to impress him unfortunately. This guy was getting a kick out of surprising me. He began to sing something. I have no idea what it was, but it was good and it was loud. This guy had serious talent. I applauded him when he finished and he loved it.

'Why are you dressed like that then?' I enquired. 'Getting into character. I always do it when I'm performing. I've got another suit in the back just in case' he said with the enthusiasm of a child. 'You're performing in Ilfracombe tonight?' I asked. 'Yes..at the theatre. Can't get you in I'm afraid...sold out' he replied.

He then started to get me involved. 'Have a go at this' he said as he sang 'La la la la la la la la' up the scales. I had a bash and he was impressed (or pretending to be impressed). We then did the scale back down and once again he seemed impressed. This continued on as he gave me a free singing lesson for most of the rest of the journey. I would have a break when he would sing one of his numbers from the show. It was wonderful.

When he dropped me off at the holiday camp I asked him why he had pulled over like that to pick me up. He explained that he always likes company when travelling to a performance and that I wasn't the first hitcher to go through this singing experience with him. He said the company helps keep the nerves at bay and gives him an audience as he rehearses and warms up.

So there are probably a few other people out there who have received a lift from Andrew and had the pleasure of his free opera tutorial and singing lessons. It was certainly one of my most memorable rides.

Thanks for singing along.

Until next time, may all your scales be clean and unbroken.

STEEMONKEY🐒