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Though he was appreciative of driver Louis Seta’s offer to drive him onward down Interstate 95 to any place above Savannah, Ga., hitchhiker Howard Ross had heard his one Taylor Swift song and just wanted to get dropped off now, thanks.
“Yep, ‘We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together’ still sounds twice on good on the radio as it does in my head,” said Ross, after his 11th minute in Seta’s Honda Civic. “Cool man, you can just pull off at the next exit.”
Ross went on to explain that when he walked to I-95, stuck out his thumb and displayed a hand-written cardboard sign, he was thinking less of any single destination and more of a certain pop star’s golden voice. “That’s why my sign reads, ‘Like Top 40?’” said Ross.
“The only lift that fellow wanted was a musical one, from the catchy hooks, the Nashville flavor and the school-dance lyrics of T. Swift,” said Seta, who reported that Ross seemed more concerned about tuning in to Richmond’s “All the Hits Q94” than knowing in which direction the Civic was moving. “I should’ve known.”
Upon exiting the vehicle, Ross proceeded to forget Swift’s line about “indie records” and “cooler than mine,” yearned to hear her sing it again, then stuck his thumb in the air and waited for another teenpop-crazy motorist to pass.
