Remembrances of Days Gone Past

Snagging, Skitching and Bumper Riding When I was a kid we called it snagging. 

On a day when snow was packed onto a street, you would wait for a car to slow down at a stop sign and then you would crouch down and sneak behind the car, put your hands underneath the bumper of the car, and squat in a catcher's position with feet parallel about shoulder's width apart. The car would speed up and you would "ride" away. It was great! I lived for snagging. In college I continued to "snag rides" and I learned that it was common in other parts of the country but it was called by different names. Some called it "skitching" and some called it "bumper riding" others "bumper skiing." Everyone who grew up doing it - loved it. I probably started snagging about 3rd grade. I would snag with the older kids. It was great. You have to understand that I was a city kid. My parents weren't rich. Snagging is something kids did that got us outside (we had no cable TV back then - circa 1975).

Snagging died out both because chrome bumpers were replaced with plastic ones which were tough to grab hold of and because dangerous pursuits like this became verbotten for kids. I miss snagging.