Sometimes people ask me for directions. I don't know why. I'm not sure that I look either approachable or trustworthy on matters of navigation. That second part may only be because I know that I really cannot be trusted to just know how to get around by car. In any case, most times I can't help, and I try to be honest about that. That can be hard, because there's a natural inclination not only to help someone, but to prove one is smart.
As I said, I try to be honest. Recently I was asked for directions and I actually did know the way. A woman drove up and called out to me as I walked along the front of the grocery store. I was bewildered for a moment, as I typically am in such situations. I pulled it together, and heard the lady looking for a particular street that I knew was north. I advised her of this, and that the intersecting street was not the nearest, but the one after that.
Showing posts with label directions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label directions. Show all posts
Friday, January 20, 2012
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Where To?
I'm not the best at giving directions. To begin with, spatial reasoning and all that isn't my forte. I lose my bearings easily. Making matters worse, I have never driven much in this city. I have almost entirely used public transportation. That being the case, I can frequently give great directions on how to get from one place to another using the bus, but couldn't even guess at how you would drive yourself there. That being the case, I usually leave people looking to me for directions disappointed.
It has happened more than I would have guessed it would. I'm walking down the street minding my business, or perhaps standing at the corner waiting for the light to change. A stranger pulls up, rolling his window down. He wants to know how to get to someplace that I may or may not have been to myself. I strain to think of what he needs to do, because I want to be of help although I get little out of it. Sometimes I can help, and sometimes I can't. More often I would say that I can't help.
Subjects:
directions
It has happened more than I would have guessed it would. I'm walking down the street minding my business, or perhaps standing at the corner waiting for the light to change. A stranger pulls up, rolling his window down. He wants to know how to get to someplace that I may or may not have been to myself. I strain to think of what he needs to do, because I want to be of help although I get little out of it. Sometimes I can help, and sometimes I can't. More often I would say that I can't help.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Bad Directions
When people ask for directions, I feel like I need to give them something. I may not know where they're trying to go or how to get there, but I don't want to just say "I don't know", even when that's the prudent thing to say. After I've been living in this apartment building this long, you'd think I'd know where the different numbers were, but I pointed some guy in entirely the wrong direction, and can't shake an unhappy feeling in spite of how little impact my bad directions had. Maybe it makes me think that bad directions I've given in the past had more severe consequences.
Some time ago, I was working an American Idol audition at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego. I'd never set foot in the stadium or looked at a seating chart, but there I was telling people where their assigned seating was to await their auditions. I might have steered every single person wrong that day, and it was a long day. I guess it worked out all right. I'm still pretty lousy at giving directions.
Subjects:
directions
Some time ago, I was working an American Idol audition at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego. I'd never set foot in the stadium or looked at a seating chart, but there I was telling people where their assigned seating was to await their auditions. I might have steered every single person wrong that day, and it was a long day. I guess it worked out all right. I'm still pretty lousy at giving directions.