A Very Unusual President Indeed: Uruguayan President Gives a Ride to Hitchhiker

By Dustin M Braden - 19 Jan '15 15:09PM

The majority of the world's citizens would not even dare to fantasize about having close contact with their presidents and various other heads of states. However, Uruguay's president has shown Uruguayan citizens that they can indeed dream of such a thing.

When a hitchhiker in Uruguay was trying to find himself a ride on the road, a car suddenly stopped and two people inside of the car told him that he could get a ride. As he looked closer, he saw that those two people in the vehicle were Uruguayan president Jose Mujica and his wife, First Lady and Senator Lucia Topolansky, according to RT News.

The hitchhiker, Gerhald Acosta, said in a Facebook update posted on Monday, Jan . 7 "I was looking a ride from Conchincilla and guess who picked me up on the road?"

He continued "I know this woman. It was Lucia (Topolansky), with Manuela the dog, and Pepe (Mujica) in the front seat. I couldn't believe it. The president was giving me a ride."

The man said that he was traveling home to the city of Juan Lacaz, in southwestern Uruguay, from the Montes del Plata paper mill where he works when the incident took place. He stated that he had been walking for a while and more than 25 cars had passed him by without stopping.

Suddenly a car with a government license plate made a stop and an elderly couple inside the vehicle asked him why he was in need of a ride. Acosta told the couple that his credentials had expired and he wasn't able to get to work, and this was why he had to hitch hike.

"When I got out, I thanked them profusely, because not everyone helps someone out on the road, and much less a president," Acosta stated.

Even though it is still inconceivable for most citizens of the world to have a presiden, who would be willing to give his or her citizens a ride, it is not something unexpected from President Mujica. He is known for his down-to-earth personality and humble nature. Mujica once told Al Jazeera "A president is a high-level official who is elected to carry out a function. He is not a king, not a god. He is not the witch doctor of a tribe who knows everything. He is a civil servant. I think the ideal way of living is to live like the vast majority of people whom we attempt to serve and represent."