Which way you going?

So I know all ther sterotypes and the things people say about hickhikers. I also know that my mother would not be happy know ing that I pick them up. Now I don't pick the one's with hocky maskes and kifes, bgut that's mostly cause I don't see them. I also would not pick them up if I had my wife or kids in the car, While I can't be sure but I think i wouldn't, but I still might. I have only picked up a handful. I do this cause I myself am having to realiy on the kindess of strangers allot of the time. Yesterday I pick up two, one was a man who's car ran out of gas and his grandmother and kids where waiting in the car. The second was a little more shady. Having worked with people with mental disorders I could till this man had one. I am no doctor and am not very knowlageable about such things so to say more would only be guesses. He was headed for montana and was happy for as far as I could take him. I told him I was going to Utah and he could come the whole way or get dropped off where ever he wanted along the way. HE was more then happy with this. We then set off with him doing most of the talking. I came to find out the he use to teach music and a few different univeristys but something had happened where he has spent the last few months on the streets. He was from South Carilona and had hickted hiked his way to bloomfield New Mexico. He was more then happy to hear classical music in the car (I was playing a cd from Toko Takahashi a japaness composer) He went off about art and phiolsphy and how he liked buroke morn then others. He had seem to have been doiong fine till something happened to him. At which point I think his brain was kind of fried. He had troulbe with simple math and yet knew all the converstions form standerdd to metric. He could tell me different things he had read, but had a very hard time reading. He was constily talking quietly to himself and doing motions with his hands in the air. I might have thought him scary or strang if I hadn't sent so much time with other like him. We had to stop quite offten for the bathroom and smoking. I had known another man that had to have a cigerate every now and them to help with his disablityes. So I gladly stopped as offten as he liked for this, where we would get something to eat and talk about things that we saw around us. Thikning that prove was a good mormon town I thought it would have at least one homless shelter. when we got there sadly it did not the closest one was all the way in Salt lack city. This was too much this man was now my firend and I could not simply leave him in the street. I found a hotel and got him set up for the night where he said he could contine on his way tomorrow. He being more then happy to have meet me and I the same for him we parted exchanging e-mail. I have lost his name to my memory and have his face implanted on my mind. I hope things work out for him and I hope you think twice about strangers on the road.