From John Waters’ hitchhiking trip (via):
Early – and later – in his odyssey, Mr. Waters chanced upon Brett Bidle, 20, a town councilman from Myersville, Md., who was en route to Joplin, Mo., to help with tornado relief efforts there. Mr. Bidle first drove Mr. Waters from Myersville to Ohio, then reconnected with him in Denver, driving him another 1,000 miles to Reno, Nev.
“I drove for 22 straight hours with no sleep, whether that was a smart thing to do or not,” Mr. Bidle said on Friday, speaking by phone from Wichita, Kan. “I was on a mission to find John Waters again.”
Mr. Waters also made arrangements for Mr. Bidle to stay at his apartment in San Francisco, where Mr. Waters arrived on Tuesday after four more hitchhiked rides.
“I thought, you know what, he wanted an adventure, too,” Mr. Waters said of Mr. Bidle. “He’s the first Republican I’d ever vote for.”
Mr. Bidle said of Mr. Waters: “We are polar opposites when it comes to our politics, religious beliefs. But that’s what I loved about the whole trip. It was two people able to agree to disagree and still move on and have a great time. I think that’s what America’s all about.”
Corner Stone
Ummm, so Mr. Bidle is an interesting Republican.
Or should I say, a typically closeted Republican.
Felinious Wench
It’s possible, but both parties have to be more attached to common humanity rather than their disparate ideologies. A great sense of humor is also key.
I’m still very close to a right-wing cousin. Neither of us tones it down…we can take it. I sent her a text last night and said “what the hell is going on with your people today? My people are not sending SWAT teams after you.” “Not yet. I give you time. :)”
JGabriel
__
__
DougJ::
Me too. It’s about people with very different beliefs coming together to work on something they have in common and agree upon, adventure and travel in this case.
It’s not the usual sense of how bipartisan is used in the media, where it typically means: Democrats compromise and Republicans don’t..
.
jank_w
Hey, a post after my own heart, something about hitchhiking.
Seems like by going out of his way looking for the hitchhiker, and taking him another 1000 miles out of his way (?), Mr. Bidle was kind of invading the space of the hitchhiker and interfering with the coincidences that would otherwise have happened in the journey of the traveler… the whole arc of the universe and shit. I don’t begrudge him that he wanted an adventure too, and got along famously with Mr. Waters, just saying it’s a kind of interference in what could have been for the hitchhiker.
I’m just noting this as someone who has hitched a shit ton in my life (30,000 miles last time I counted) precisely because real coincidences can be so meaningful.
Corner Stone
@jank_w: 30K miles where? In the US, Latin America, EUR?
JGabriel
__
__
jank_w:
I think it only counts as invasive if Waters also found it intrusive. It appears he didn’t, from Waters’ own account.
I think your point is well-taken in that it could have been invasive — if, say, Bidle was hostile or Waters was uninterested in his company — but that wasn’t the case this time.
.
jank_w
US all except once from Alaska thru Canada back to the Lower 48 (lost a vw rabbit in a game of rock paper scissors, no lie)… since the mid 90’s. I go for three months every 3 or 4 years, ditch camping and getting drunk in small town bars. Getting older now but I think I got a few more in me.
JGabriel
__
__
jank_w:
I will return when I stop laughing. It could be a few hours. Or days.
.
jank_w
@JGabriel:
True enough, however, the very act of searching him out and finding him altered the course of the trip. That may not be a bad thing, after all, if it happened, maybe that’s what was supposed to happen. I won’t try to overanalyze it or cast a harsh judgement, just note that it certainly limited a different universe of possibilities for the traveler.
After all, Denver to San Fran is a long way and it might have taken Waters 4 days, 2 weeks, or half a year to make it back instead of a straight shot in one ride.
Anya
I am not sure what to make of the new DougJ.
joes527
@jank_w: Dude. You should have gone with rock.
Mnemosyne
I’m just picturing driving along the highway minding my own business and seeing this guy with his thumb out.
How many accidents did Mr. Waters cause on his odyssey across the country?
ETA: And I say this as one of the few people who enjoyed “Cecil B. Demented.”
Citizen_X
@Mnemosyne: I would have caused an accident, because I would have been like, “Oh, hitchhiker. Hey, he looks familiar for some reason. WTF IS THAT JOHN WATERS?” SKRREEEEEE…
dp
When it gets out that he gave a liberal hitchhiker a ride instead of running over him, he’ll be drummed out of the Republican Party.
Marcellus Shale, Public Dick
its a great story.
SectarianSofa
Well, that was a shockingly charming find — not what I expect on my usual stumble into the front page here.
alien_radio
Why would anyone not like Cecil B demented?
hells littlest angel
My first thought was, “Huh, somebody else named John Waters.” I scrolled on to the next post, then scrolled back up again and hit the link.
Wow. John Waters would be near the top of my list of Top Ten Totally Fucking Cool senior Citizens.
JWL
I’m a native San Franciscan. Believe me, it’s unusual to read a story involving San Francisco that doesn’t portray the town as a political/cultural aberration.
Of course, it was written by John Waters.