Hitch-hiking juggler finds more friends

 

By Larry Forsberg San Francisco, CA

 

(Editor's note: Larry juggled and hitch-hiked from Cali­fornia to the Amherst convention last summer. An obvious road-wise expert, Larry said the ploy gained him great rides all the way!)

 

Everyone can see that juggling and hitch-hiking have a lot in common. One gets people from one place to another and one gets objects from one place to the next. When you put the two together--presto!--not only is the boredom of waiting for a ride relieved, but your chances of getting a ride improve as well. I've found I've gotten rides from people who never pick up hitch-hikers but who will stop on a dime for a juggler. And I've never yet been hassled by "Smokey the Bear." On the contrary, as the following story illustrates!

 

It started on the day before Thanksgiving 1978. My friend Wendy and I were driving cross-country in my trusty '66 Coronet when the thing died in the middle of Arizona, 30 miles from the nearest town, After I tried every curse and

spell I knew on the hunk of junk, we left it on the roadside. Taking along traveler's checks and homemade bean bags, hitched into town.

 

As luck would have it, we made town just before the last parts store closed and were able to buy a new coil. With the sun sinking slowly in the West, we stopped for dinner. That was a mistake. Returning to the highway at dusk, we found that neither juggling nor sex appeal could entice a motorist to stop at that darkening hour. We were left with no option but to seek out a cheap motel. Call it fate or whatever, but at the motel we saw Steve Martin do a short but sweet three ball routine.

 

The following morning we were back on the shoulder of Route 40 trying to get back to my car. Little did we know that during the night it was towed into town for safe-keeping.

 

Juggler's luck was again with us. We were spotted by Sgt. Dave Pouquette en route to a Thanksgiving holiday feast with his family. He pulled over and asked, "Are you the guy who has a red car with a unicycle in the back seat?" I was, but how did he know?

 

To make a long story shorter, Sgt. Pouquette wisely connected a juggler on the side of the road with the radio report he had heard earlier about the unicycle-laden car being towed into the garage.

 

Not only did the good officer inform us we were on the wrong track, he offered us a ride to the garage. After thanking Sgt. Pouquette, installing the coil and paying the garage owner his ransom, we were on our way again.

 

The moral of the story is: always juggle when you hitch­hike, and if your car breaks down on Thanksgiving day in Arizona, leave a unicycle on the back seat!