It was an early evening towards the end of summer in Lower Salthill.  The denizens of a certain local pub were as usual deep in conversation about a matter of crucial worldwide importance.  This time, the chosen subject was the decline of hitch-hiking - as a practice, as an art form, as a way of life.

Everyone, from the freshfaced twentysomethings to the hoary old crustaceans of indeterminate vintage, had a tale about the good old days, when all you had to do was "get on a road and stick out your thumb" (in the words of Liam Reilly of Bagatelle).  Pints of Guinness flowed as we warmed to the subject, and contributed our tales one by one to the stock of hitching stories.  Each account was in itself a gem or reportage, or recitation, each one a pearl of anecdotal wisdom...

But we were all agreed that one sad state of affairs was unfortunately the case: that, in the words of Duke Ellington, "things just ain't what they used to be"...