"central air" "hopped a freight"

Posted by Bob on August 11, 2005

In Reply to: "Central air" "hopped a freight" posted by Itzhar on August 11, 2005

: 1. When a house has a "central air" - is it air condition, or ventilation?

: 2. someone "hopped a freight". What does it mean?

Central air is whole-house (not room-by-room) air conditioning. Not just ventilation. (Note: it's "central air" rather than "a central air." The latter would be, perhaps, "Celeste Aida."
"Hopped a freight" is to climb on board a moving freight train as a passenger. It's free, illegal, and dangerous. It's uncommon today, but was more popular 70 years ago in America during the Great Depression, when many displaced people could not afford the cost of paid transportation. It was romanticised in song and story, e.g.,
Hobo's Lullaby
by Goebel Reeves

Go to sleep you weary hobo
Let the towns drift slowly by
Can't you hear the steel rail humming
That's a hobo's lullaby

Do not think about tomorrow
Let tomorrow come and go
Tonight you're in a nice warm boxcar
Safe from all the wind and snow

I know the police cause you trouble
They cause trouble everywhere
But when you die and go to heaven
You won't find no policemen there

I know your clothes are torn and ragged
And your hair is turning grey
Lift your head and smile at trouble
You'll find happiness some day

So go to sleep you weary hobo
Let the towns drift slowly by
Don't you feel the steel rail humming
That's a hobo's lullaby