i was riding BNSF in montana when i was still inexperienced, having gotten off at the siding on the west side of the bridge in Cut Bank thinking it was shelby....i had to walk across that bridge and hitch to shelby....after several hours with no ride i made a new sign that had only a question mark on it {?} really big and bold...got a ride to shelby within minutes of flyin it...and hung onto it for awhile after that, used the ole 'question mark' a few other times, both for rides and cash, and always got the ride quickly or made the cash quickly.
the people that stoped for someone that 'doesnt seem to know what they want' were always over the top, let me tell you
btw, in case you've never ridden the hi-line and dont know that bridge, most folks dont feel safe when RIDING over that bridge on a train, let alone walking it....there were boards falling from beneath my feet and they fell so far that they were specks by the time they hit the river....hahaha....