"Peter Duniho" wrote:
Be careful about your generalizations. In the scenario you describe, I see
no reason to accept a ride. But there are plenty of examples of passengers
who are total strangers to the pilot accepting rides, as are there examples
of taking car rides from total strangers, all in very reasonable, accepted
situations.

I didn't make any generalizations. In the scenario described, I knew
*nothing* about this person, not even his name, and he was not an
acquaintance of anyone I knew ... just a man driving through the airport.

I don't know what examples there are of people taking car rides or plane
rides from total strangers--no one I know gets into a car with a person
they don't even know. I'm not talking about taxicab drivers, limo
drivers, courtesy rides from maintenance shops, charter pilots or CFIs
doing Discovery Flights...that's a completely different scenario where
the passenger has initiated the ride/flight as part of a service they
are paying for. I was talking about a total stranger assuming you would
have no qualms about hopping into an airplane with him.