# Giving directions to strangers **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 10, 2013, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-directions-to-strangers/660626 "2013-06-10T15:42:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2013, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-directions-to-strangers/660626/21 "2013-06-12T15:17:33Z")
I advise them to ask somebody else, because I am severely navigationally-challenged. I still used my GPS a lot even after living at my last apartment… for 6 months. D: ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2013, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-directions-to-strangers/660626/22 "2013-06-13T11:08:23Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I give them the route that I would follow. If I can find it, anyone can. > > Regards, > Shodan This describes me, also. I give very precise and easy to follow instructions/directions. What I can’t stand, is someone that doesn’t know _ **how** _ to give concise and easy to follow directions. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2013, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-directions-to-strangers/660626/23 "2013-06-13T12:23:13Z")
> [@JBDivmstr](#): > > This describes me, also. > I give very precise and easy to follow instructions/directions. > What I can’t stand, is someone that doesn’t know _ **how** _ to give concise and easy to follow directions. :mad: I, too, despise people who don’t share my own personal strengths and weaknesses. :rolleyes: There’s a great TED talk by Temple Grandin about how the world needs all kinds of minds. She talks about how, being autistic, she tends to think in pictures. Whereas non-autistic people tend to think in words. Consequently, she brings up the idea that verbal thinkers are generally less skilled at visual/spatial thinking (and vice-versa). I’m not saying it’s impossible to be good at both, but have some respect for the verbal thinkers who suck at navigation, mkay? ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2013, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-directions-to-strangers/660626/24 "2013-06-13T12:44:28Z")
After much discussion with my SO, we have come to the conclusion that those who voted in the ‘other’ category in the poll, are the ones who don’t know _ **how** _ to give directions. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2013, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-directions-to-strangers/660626/25 "2013-06-13T14:03:18Z")
Simplest, easiest to follow. Though I confess that as a youngster, I did once do the “wrong way for shits and giggles” thing. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2013, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-directions-to-strangers/660626/26 "2013-06-13T22:20:03Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > I ask which they want. “Do you know the area? Do you have a pen? There’s the easy way or the quick way, which would you like?” +1 ---
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2013, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-directions-to-strangers/660626/27 "2013-06-13T22:43:30Z")
> [@Rachellelogram](#): > > I, too, despise people who don’t share my own personal strengths and weaknesses. :rolleyes: > > There’s a great TED talk by Temple Grandin about how the world needs all kinds of minds. She talks about how, being autistic, she tends to think in pictures. Whereas non-autistic people tend to think in words. Consequently, she brings up the idea that verbal thinkers are generally less skilled at visual/spatial thinking (and vice-versa). I’m not saying it’s impossible to be good at both, but have some respect for the verbal thinkers who suck at navigation, mkay? Please share the link, that sounds right up my alley (I think in pictures, terrible at metaphors) ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2013, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-directions-to-strangers/660626/28 "2013-06-13T22:54:43Z")
Easiest, or close to it. If I can write down the directions, or maybe draw a map, I might add a step or two if it’s a lot faster. ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2013, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-directions-to-strangers/660626/29 "2013-06-16T21:13:40Z")
> [@Rachellelogram](#): > > I, too, despise people who don’t share my own personal strengths and weaknesses. :rolleyes: > > There’s a great TED talk by Temple Grandin about how _ **the world needs all kinds of minds** _. She talks about how, being autistic, she tends to think in pictures. Whereas non-autistic people tend to think in words. Consequently, she brings up the idea that verbal thinkers are generally less skilled at visual/spatial thinking (and vice-versa). I’m not saying it’s impossible to be good at both, but have some respect for the verbal thinkers who suck at navigation, mkay? (bolding mine) “the world _ **needs** _ all kinds of minds”? :dubious: I strongly disagree, the ‘world doesn’t _ **need** _ all kinds of minds’. There are most definitely some kinds of minds that the world could do just fine, without. For example sociopaths, sexual deviants/predators, just to name a couple. ---
**Author:** ![Macca26](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/13edae/32.png) [@Macca26](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Macca26)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2013, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-directions-to-strangers/660626/30 "2013-06-16T21:56:13Z")
I put down “other” because it’s not that I don’t talk to strangers, it’s because now I tell them “Sorry, I don’t know” even if I might. Every single time I’ve tried to tell someone directions I can tell they’ve either listened to none of it, or pretended to get it when they don’t. It may be I’m bad at giving directions (even if I don’t _think_ I am), so in that case it’s just as well that I don’t give any out anymore. After all, in the age of the smartphone I could look it up for them. But I choose not to. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2013, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-directions-to-strangers/660626/31 "2013-06-17T00:30:54Z")
> [@Learjeff](#): > > “Turn left where the gas station used to be.” “You go a few miles down this road to the covered bridge. Turn half a mile before you get there.” ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2013, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-directions-to-strangers/660626/32 "2013-06-17T01:11:36Z")
We get a lot of people coming to the school office who need directions, sometimes to a different area of the school, sometimes to another school, and, more often than you’d think, to polling places (“No, the early voting isn’t here {_we don’t want strangers wandering through the school for a month before every election, thank you_}”). I give them the easiest directions possible and then, very often, print them a map. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2013, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-directions-to-strangers/660626/33 "2013-06-17T14:57:56Z")
I always do “easiest” - if they knew the area they wouldn’t be asking! If I’m in my car and not in a hurry I’ll just have them follow me. Usually it’s the parents of a new USC student or something. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2013, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-directions-to-strangers/660626/34 "2013-06-17T15:06:56Z")
Easiest, taking mobility issues into account: from whether they’re in a car and the street I’d walk down would be wrong-way, to whether they’ve carrying suitcases. Dad once asked for directions and was told to “turn left on that corner”, where said corner was sporting a “wrong way” sign. He still managed to thank the lady politely. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2013, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-directions-to-strangers/660626/35 "2013-06-17T15:18:25Z")
> [@Rachellelogram](#): > > There’s a great TED talk by Temple Grandin about how the world needs all kinds of minds. She talks about how, being autistic, she tends to think in pictures. Whereas non-autistic people tend to think in words. Consequently, she brings up the idea that verbal thinkers are generally less skilled at visual/spatial thinking (and vice-versa). I’m not saying it’s impossible to be good at both, but have some respect for the verbal thinkers who suck at navigation, mkay? That’s interesting. I’m about as verbal a thinker as one can be, and I absolutely suck at finding places. It’s genetic: Nobody in my family has ever had a sense of direction. I’ve learned to form a mental photo of everything on route to where I go the most: “Walk up from the monument until you pass the third outdoor church sign on the left, then take the next right turn at the house with the black fence and go down one block” leads me to my house (and if they ever paint that fence another color, I’m sunk). I once gave a friend driving me to work my directions for fnding the place, and she had to pull over cause she was laughing so hard. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2013, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-directions-to-strangers/660626/36 "2013-06-17T15:30:45Z")
After I finish scratching my head and wondering what they are doing driving in an unknown area without a GPS device/phone/etc. . .I send them the way I would go which is sometimes fastest, sometimes scenic, sometimes a way to avoid checkpoints. ---
**Author:** ![Caffeine.addict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@Caffeine.addict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caffeine.addict)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2013, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-directions-to-strangers/660626/37 "2013-06-17T15:46:14Z")
It usually only happens to me when I’m on foot. I’ll send them the easiest way. It helps that DC is an alphanumeric grid. If possible, I’ll tell them to avoid circles as they tend to take longer to cross. ---
**Author:** ![mkecane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@mkecane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mkecane)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2013, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-directions-to-strangers/660626/38 "2013-06-17T15:55:13Z")
“You can’t get there from here.” ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2013, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-directions-to-strangers/660626/39 "2013-06-17T16:13:23Z")
“Follow me.” ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2013, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-directions-to-strangers/660626/40 "2013-06-18T05:42:53Z")
I pull out my Garmin and Mapsco and try to show the person how to get there from here. However, I caution the asker that I am the wrong wrong WRONG person to ask for directions. If I come home late from somewhere, and my husband asks me where I’ve been, a frequent (and very true) reply is usually “I have no idea, I got losted.” Losted is one of our family words. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-directions-to-strangers/660626.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-directions-to-strangers/660626.md?page=3)