Pretty much every day on my way home from work, I see folks on Fayette street with one arm raised at about a 60 degree angle, wrist drooped downwards, and one or more fingers bouncing rapidly up and down. They're "hacking" -- looking for a cheap ride from where they are to where they're going. A driver with time on his hands who's looking to pick up some extra cash is likely to stop and offer a ride. Both sides of the transaction are illegal, but that doesn't stop people from doing it.
Bernard Threatt, one of our colleagues in Women in Film and Video of Maryland, has made an engaging documentary about this phenomenon, which apparently is one of those only-in-Baltimore phenomena. To make "Baltimore City HAKS" he hopped into cars with total strangers and hung out in some pretty rough areas to talk to people trying to get from Point A to Point B.
I'm not sure how you can get a copy of the DVD, but you can view the trailer by clicking on the links to the HAKS website. It's bound to be an education.
No comments:
Post a Comment