Giving Directions: practicing the odd, misleading, and almost always imprecise art of giving— and receiving— directions

 

 

Providence, Rhode Island, is a city in which I am prone (susceptible) to wrong turns, and on my last trip there, I made the inevitable stop at a bodega to find out how I might find my way out of town and back to Route 6. The elderly man behind the counter gave me extensive instructions that included circling back the way I had come, taking a shortcut through an alley, and crossing two bridges. But as I left the store, a twenty something costumer followed me out to suggest a much simpler, quicker, and more direct route that involved reversing course, going straight, and making a single turn. The difference in these two offerings illustrates that how one gives directions tends to be a highly individual, personal, and sometimes even poetic enterprise.

Busch, A. (2006). Giving Directions: practicing the odd, misleading, and almost always imprecise art of giving— and receiving— directions. Extraído el 2 de Septiembre, 2013 de http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/going-my-way