Come on people. It’s 2009. If I ask for the address of a place, don’t ask me “Where are you coming from?” then go into a whole spiel about how I need to take the 101 South, exit such-and-such, etc.
I have the Internet. I also have a GPS device in my car - but even if I didn’t, most people these days have the Internet. Just give me the fucking address, and I will find it.
Now if there are special instructions like “it’s kind of hidden behind the pink building” that’s fine. And I know sometimes they build new roads or remove old ones and the GPS systems don’t always reflect that - but I also live in a big city where most of the roads are pretty well established and not changing any time soon. In the very rare case the system may not guide me to the correct spot, that’s why we have cell phones. Technology is a miracle, eh?
If I’m giving directions to someone else, I will just give the address - if they ask for specific directions I would help them out, but the standard response to “what’s the address?” should not be “where are you coming from?” in this day and age.
I sometimes have to stop people when they start trying to give me directions to tell them “I’ll just look it up on Yahoo maps” but then even after that, they still insist on giving me directions!!
When people ask me directions and I know that they have GPS, easy internet access, etc. I just give addresses. A lot of times (at work especially), people are trying to get from my point of business to another. I may know where that business is, but not their exact address. “It’s on 9th st, two blocks from 14th, on the right side” takes less time than me digging out my phone and looking up an address, etc. If you are so internet savvy and so keen on not getting directions, then why not just look up the address yourself?
In what situation has this happened to you? Were you calling a business by phone and asking for their street address? Or just a stranger in the area?
Perhaps lots of people, when asked, don’t know the exact street address of the location you’re looking for. Instead, they give a different reference point that may be easier to find. So they ask you where you may be coming from.
For example,
“What’s the address of the nearest post office?”
“I don’t know, but it’s about two blocks after taking a left on 6th Street.”
OR
“It’s a quick right from the Interstate 9, exit 27a off-ramp.”
OR
“It’s on the second signal left side going north on Park Ave, after crossing Walnut Drive.”
Also, unless you tell them, they can’t necessarily assume they know that you have net access or a car navigation system. Trying to give you directions in addition to the address could be seen as extra help. Also, if the place you’re trying to locate is a business or public place, why not just Google it?
Our house is in a very new subdivision and the address is not in Google Maps or MapQuest. We can’t get pizza delivered yet because of this. So my friends coming to visit me in my new house need directions even if they don’t think they do.
Lots of people don’t have GPS in their car or have access to the internet. Just because the technology is available doesn’t mean everyone has it, uses it, or has access to it.
Our address is in a townhouse complex that is QUITE hidden from the main road, even though the address is that road. Say, 120 Main Street, but the entire complex goes from 120 Main Street to 180 Main Street, and is hidden off by virtue of a small drive leading into the complex, that looks like it dead ends into the retaining wall of the complex.
I’ve had people like the OP say “oh, I’ll just Google it” or GPS it, and if I don’t at least give them the “okay, but it’s kinda hidden, you’ll see a small drive between two small lengths of pale fence…” it’s a 50/50 shot whether they’ll find it.
That would definitely fall under the “special instructions” I allowed for in the OP. But you still shouldn’t have to ask them “where are you coming from?” and then proceed to tell them which freeways to take, etc.
Well, MapQuest is often just plain wrong. I quit using it and went to Rand McNally, which is a little better. Google maps cannot find my house even though it was built in 1935. It incorrectly labels the nearby logging road as my road and would place someone coming to visit me seriously in the boonies.
First, I’ve had serious problems with Google Maps and MapQuest giving me absolutely stupid directions.
Second, as some of you know, I work as a welfare office switchboard operator. The people who call trying to find out where the office is generally DON’T have GPS or access to the internet (and it wouldn’t do them any good since half the time they’re calling from their cell phone on the way to the office).
Here in SoCal, we use the Thomas Guide. Much more reliable. I have seen a dash mounted gps instruct a driver to use Highway 2 to get from Altadena to Wrightwood. In the winter. When the road is closed due to heavy snowfall. :rolleyes:
But generally, yeah. I prefer to look at my own maps over getting directions.
Even before the internet/gps I never paid attention to anything anyone said other than the street address. I’d let them give me directions, if they wanted to, but would think about something else and just nod my head.
However, I would also keep half an ear open for phrases like “and here’s the tricky part” or “for gods sake whatever you do don’t take the laneway with the letterbox on the corner - that’s a backdoor through the gateways of hell”.
I love my GPS, it’s one of my favorite toys - but two days ago, it wanted me to drive through a mall. I know of one major interchange that’s at least 15 years old (probably older, but I can’t vouch for anything beyond 15 years), that GPSs, maps.google, and mapquest all get wrong and will send you very far off your destination if you follow the electronic directions.
GPS directions will often get you there. But from certain starting points, I know how to get you there faster or with less traffic or less frustration than you’ll get from the in dash GPS which will tell you to take Main Street when the best way to go is to take highway 101 at exit such and such.
In my line of work, I deal with contractors a lot, and every once in a while I get the “where are you?” question, followed by "Call me when you get off Exit so and so and I’ll meet you at this diner, and you can follow me to the jobsite . . "
NO.
I am fucking DRIVING. I do NOT want to call while doing so with constant updates on my ETA. Just give me the damn address, and I will be there.
Good rant. It’s 2009, get with the program, or die out.
I don’t have GPS, but I’m quite capable of finding an address online. Except for rare exceptions, I wholeheartedly agree with the OP . . . and have, for a long time.
The funny thing is when someone asks for directions to my house, and I honestly don’t know the freeway exit number, or how many stoplights are on the main road, or which fast food joint you turn at.
Oh yes. I wish people would just give an address and only include directions if they are relevant and needed to find the driveway or something.
It’s really annoying when someone starts describing, well, if you’re coming from the main road, turn at the McDonalds, and take the third left, no wait the second, then turn right, and argh. This is why we have street names and numbered houses, so they can be found via street directory or GPS and without a complete verbal route description.
I’ll be happy to. You’ll get there about an hour later than everyone I give “turn here and go this way” type directions to. Then we’ll all sit around and have a good laugh, saying things like “it routed you down THAT road? Sheesh! Everyone knows not to go that way. It takes FOREVER!”
My gripe with driving directions is all the extra and useless detail some people like to pepper them with. My father and oldest sister can - quite literally - talk for five minutes giving me directions that I write down as: s on 49 (r at shop ctr) to US35.