Walking back to work one day, a young woman going in the opposite direction asked me for directions. She was looking for one of those security companies. Now, in fairness to me, I wasn't really paying attention to company signs and it's not a road I've traversed much by car or even on foot, so I told her the truth: I wasn't quite sure, but knew it was on the road we were on. Fair enough. But it was after she had taken off that I realised she probably should have been going the same direction I was. After I got back to the office, a quick check of the phonebook proved me right. Right road, but she was going to the wrong end. Oops.

But that's the problem with directions. Even when you know exactly where the place is, it can still be difficult to explain. Some people just want to hear "turn left, then right" and they're good. Except, sometimes there may be a minor turn-off and that throws them off. Of course, try and explain the little turn-off, they'll tell you "that's too much information, you're confusing me." Just trying to help. But giving too vague a direction is just as bad. The person receiving the info also needs to 'have sense'. Best directions I ever heard someone give "just go a town; yuh will see di lady pon di veranda." Well, the driver found the house, so I guess we can't argue with the strategy.

Most honest directions

Honestly, I think what happens is persons are trying to give the simplest answer possible, especially if it's for a motorist who is holding up traffic. Word of advice, if the person starts the directions with "hmm, how I muss direct yuh now?" you may be better served asking somebody else. What always amuses me is when you opened the conversation with "I don't know the area at all" and yet, the direction-givers still ask you if you know certain landmarks. When you painstakingly tell them no, they lament "can't help you den". The most honest directions I ever received were from an old woman walking around a section of Bull Bay. "I don't really know where I'm going" or something like that. It was after we had moved on I realised she may have wandered from her home and was probably in need of help more than me (sue me, I was young).

By the way, I'm still trying to figure out how in these times, with all the technology at our disposal (satellites et al), people are still getting lost. Sometimes global positioning systems do work as advertised, but we've also heard many tales of people nearly driving over cliffs. Do yourself a favour, where possible, tek di bus!

Tell me where you want to go at daviot.kelly@gleanerjm.com.