One Night in Hell


friend turned up. Of course the rage welled up inside of him at this negligent disrespect, but he granted the benefit of the doubt and resolved to break the door down only if his friend failed to show before Mark's scheduled departure in the morning (at which point he would need access to his luggage without any further ado).

Around 4 a.m. though his friend did turn up, inebriated and in the company of a similarly conditioned lady friend he'd found in the night. Giggling and laughing they arrived to trip over Mark's prone body on the dusty kitchen floor .... retiring to the bedroom.

Needless to say, Mark got little sleep that night and lost much faith in his friend - and with this experience and others like it, probably in friends in general ...

Eventually Rob rang! He came across as hesitant, shy almost, as he confessed a concern of his. He was with this girl, and didn't know where to go with her ... (shades of Mark's tale surfacing as we spoke).

"No problem", I said, "I'm sure I can just crash at your folks, and I'll leave you your room for the night."

But Rob's mum, Fran, was expecting, and just short of delivery. A home birth was planned and the water tub was all set up already. Rob wanted to call her to see if she didn't prefer some quiet. He promised to call back soon.

Frankly I couldn't imagine any problem. Fran was so easy-going and affable, she was living in a house with her ex-husband (Rob's dad), current lover (and father of the child-to-be), Rob's brother and a friend of the family. There was a spare room as well in the regal old house in the inner suburbs.

Last time, a week earlier, I'd stayed with Fran and co. They have an open door policy and that always touches me. They don't lock their front door. I'm not even sure it has a lock.

I've encountered this a few times in my life and it always impressed me. When trust outweighs the paranoid fear so rampant in society today, promoted by an entertainment industry disguising itself at times as a news broadcasting system ...

"How foolish?", is many a reaction to such open door policy, and that's precisely what Mark, Rob's flatmate, asked me when I described the house to him. And yet I've known people in central Geneva

The copyright of the article One Night in Hell in Hitchhiking is owned by Bernd Wechner. Permission to republish One Night in Hell in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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