Yesterday one of my sisters called me to ask directions to our father’s doctor’s office. We live in the same city in which we grew up, which means she’s been a Memphian for 50-some years and I 40-some (which a hiatus in the Philippines for a few years). Driving down one of the city’s major thoroughfares, she asked me if the street she needed to turn on was before or after Oak Court Mall. I couldn’t answer that question without knowing which direction she was travelling, of course, so I asked her if I she was going east or west. Already agitated (with good reason; I don’t mean to mock her here), she said that she didn’t have the slightest idea, as she doesn’t think insuch terms; she needed left-right directions, towards-Germantown or towards-downtown directions. She’d found the instructions I’d given her earlier in the week useless because they were expressed in terms of the cardinal directions of the map.
I, obviously, think in terms of north-south-east-west, as I was taught in Boy Scouts. But I don’t mean to imply that women are innately inferior in such matters. I frequently have to orient myself to know in what direction I’m facing or travelling. Our younger sister, by contrast, has the talent of always knowing. Blindfold her and spin her around a few times, and she’ll still be able to point in a given direction without difficulty, as if she has a lodestone in her head. It’s kinda freaky but I definitely envy it.
Anyway, that brings us to the thread question. Do you generally know in what map direction you are facing, travelling, etc?
Poll in a moment, but don’t let that slow you down.
I can do it in some cities, where it’s obvious (mountains or ocean on one side, for example) or where I’m pretty familiar. In general, though, I can’t. That’s why the signs in Seattle that say “no parking North of here” always pissed me off. Not everyone has a compass in their car.
I tend to know in my own city, and when I can keep track of the sun. I used to get turned around pretty easily as a kid, so I think it’s a learned skill.
I think that counts as as having to consciously orient oneself. I was out hiking once, for instance, was briefly lost, then thought, “Okay, the full moon is just over the horizon, so that’s east. Camp’s is to the north, so turn left.”
But do you know how to do it, given a piece of information?
Let’s say you were looking for my former church, heading from downtown Memphis on Union Avenue. Union Avenue starts downtown and goes east. If I tell you that you need to turn south when you get to Cooper, does that mean a right or a left turn to you?
No idea. I could possibly tell east from west according to the sun and time of day, but north and south would be a crapshoot. I also get lost a lot- I think these things are related.
As my Scoutmaster told us decades back: Write this on a rock. East is to the right of north. South is to the right of east. West is to the right of south. North is to the right of west.
The reverse: West is to the left of north. South is to the left of west. East is to the left of south. North is to the left of east.
In any city where I know where I am (more or less) - on 95 - on 7th ave - on 695 beltway - I tend to think in terms of north/south east/west - or for beltways - clockwise/counterclockwise. I still think of turns as left/right, but only cause I want to get somewhere east/west or whatever.
So I’d think if I was on 23rd street in NYC - go north on 8th ave to 35th street and then turn right and head to 5th avenue. In my mind I know I want to go east, but the decision I still make is left/right.
I like to have a map in my head of where I am - and where I am going. I will often look at GPS maps when hiking to get an idea where I am compared to where I think I am - just to sort of force my view of reality to match up with actual reality.
Sometimes 95 will go east/west instead of north/south - I almost always still think of north/south - especially for highway like that. Of course it helps that 95 is labeled, but for all grid rows/columns I know on a map - I know which way I am going (well at least which way I INTEND to go).
That sounds complicated. I usually just call my oldest son and ask, “Where am I?? How do I get home??” But I could try it your way when I go hiking or something.
That seems complicated to me. I remember seeing “we” for west east used before. I think when I was younger - even real young - north/south didn’t confuse me. Santa lives at the North Pole after all. And that is “up”. West/east I think I would think west coast/ east coast and know which one was which.
Unless there’s a route sign that indicates the direction, I have zero clue.
On a related note, I live just off of a state highway. Are people just fucking with me when they ask if I live off of XXX east or west, or is there an actual answer they could expect me to provide? I don’t know how to answer that question because you go right off our loop road and you’re headed east, and go left you’re headed west.
I used to be like your baby sister (and you can properly call her that until the day you die, just like I can refer to my daughters as “my babies” forever), but as I’ve aged, I seem to have lost the ability to some extent. However, once I’m oriented, I’m good to go.
It helps that I grew up (and still live) in a city where the mountains are east. They’re an immediately identifiable landmark that’s impossible to mistake or lose sight of. This does give me real problems when I go to Denver or another city that has its mountains on the wrong side of town, because even though I know that their mountains are, say, west, I have to consciously transpose directions, as if the map is in another language.
If I can see the sun, and know the approximate time of day, yes.
Otherwise, not so much. And if I visit a different part of Britain (for example, the north coast of Devon or Cornwall), I’m capable of horrific misnavigation, as the sea is always to the south at home.
It depends. If you live off of a highway - that is right off a MAJOR highway like 95 - and you expect everyone that is coming to your house to be using the major high - then they aren’t necessarily fucking with you - as it is assumed you know where they are coming from. If it is ambiguous - they are probably clueless.
To me the trick you are using is more complicated then remembering:
N
WE
S
Basically the same thing - but my way is easier for me. I just think visually I guess rather than remembering four sentences. If it sticks with you - then great. Never heard it before, and obviously don’t need it now, but maybe it would have stuck with me when younger. A teacher one told me “just remember - counterclockwise always to loosen.” I was in the middle of doing something where that came in handy - and he only said it once - and I never forgot it. I heard the “lefty loosey, righty tighty” later on, but never used it - although that one seems more catchy.
Out of curiosity - did you find east/west harder to remember than north/south like I did?
The tendency is for men to navigate by ded reckoning: cardinal directions and distance, like “5000 feet east, turn south, 3 miles”.
The tendency is for women to navigate by pilotage: landmarks and left/right like “drive until you see the gas station on the left and turn right, go until you see the Wal-Mart”.
I was taught both methods. I try to give directions using both methods to maximize the chances of those directions actually being useful to the person addressed: “Drive 5000 feet east where there is a gas station on the left. Turn right so you will be going south. Drive 3 miles, where you will see a Wal-Mart.”