Evening star., 1944-05-13
Letters to The Star
How to Pick Up Friends
And Appreciate. People.
To the Editor OF The Star:

| To the Editor OF The Star:
Owing to uncertain hours. frequent
business trips of several days duration
| and considerations of health, it has
been impossible for me to participate
in regular driving pool. AS a result,
my hve-passenger Lizzie and its pilot
nave become inveterate pickers-up.
The practice was not easy to start
but, once established, the habit is most
pleasant and interesting Furthermore,
1t eases ones conscience when one
pleads for his modest allotment of gaso-
line.
My home is well over the Maryland
line, which gives us splendid opportu-
nifty to ply our trade" and furnishes a
wide variety of "customers-guests"
Lizzie and I like to tote some of the
surprising number of county youngsters
who go to Woodrow Wilson High, I'M
maculata, Friends and the other schools
near Wisconsin avenue On our early
starting days we get businessmen, Gov
ernment employees and service folks.
When we are delayed, we carry shop
pers and others who are not on
schedule
BY disregarding the ineffciency of
stops and starts, we carry as many as
eight or more passengers, filling our
vacancies as fast as they occur. And
Lizzie never complains.
We get all kinds, from the young coll
ored girl who successfully juggled an
open umbrella, heavy suitcase AVID a
cute pickaninny without getting
drowned or dropping anything, to the
very formal Briton who insisted on get
ting out and helping lady customer"
to embark
We had two young Chinese who had
no English except certain reflections
upon the ancestry Of the Japanese as
we passed that Embassy. We agreed
heartily.
One morning we collected a British
admiral, an American admiral and a.
mere lieutenant commander on sepa-
rate corners. The admirals were pleas
antly vocal; the lieutenant commander
and the driver were awed into COM
plete silence, but Lizzie suueaked and
ratified as usual.
Since we have considerable option as
to routes, the first downtown passenger
determines the way we go. 1t is sur
prising how many times a full load
stays with lis to our own destination
And in all these months only one un-
pleasant incidental fussy female who
couldn't see why Lizzie shouldn't carry
three people out of their beat in order
to please the last arrival"
In certain respect we are still ANA
teurish. We hesitate to pull up beside
the pulchritudinous young female who
might, perchance, think that the sixty
ish old gent is f1irtatious. We solicit
such trade" only when we already have
customers"
It's grand and glorious adventure in
humanics. We learn much from our
passengers and find them appreciative
far beyond our deserts.
second time, we are old friends. From
the boys in uniform we get a slant at
their problems and valuable tips for an
other young man who soon will be one
of them.
At one stage we contemplated reg
lister for passengers-partly to prove
we are doing our duty and deserve our
gas and partly to preserve record of
a pleasant experience. But we chucked
the idea. Somehow or other, it would
have formalized the fun and spoiled
the spontaneity.
Lizzie and I like this pickup stuff
and when circumstances force us to
travel alone, we miss the company.
Because we are average folks, we be-
heVe most other drivers would get the
same Kick out of being pickers-up as
we do. And according to the experts.
every little bit helps.
CHEVY CHASER.