Know your Man: Directions

“Researchers have found out why Moses kept walking through the desert with the Israelis for 40 years: A man never asks for directions.” ~ Anon

How many roads must a man go down before he will stop and ask directions?!? ~ Michelle Argabrite

This is as old as good old Moses. Indeed, if we don’t want to go around in circles, we might as well have a good map handy, not that we really know how to read it anyway, so we better study it ahead of time. We must accept the fact that he will keep trying several routes to find his way when he is lost.

Yes, it is annoying that he won’t stop and ask for directions, but quarrelling and yelling won’t solve the problem. To him, accepting the reality of such defeat is a sign of weakness and he doesn’t like that a bit. On the other hand, we also sin, for the truth of the matter is that most women have a hard time reading maps; we also have a terrible sense of direction. I am one of them: it took me almost 6 months to learn that I needed to turn right and not left on a certain road when going to my piano teacher’s studio.

A typical illustration of this characteristic is a “The Far Side” cartoon showing a couple driving a car on another planet. The man is at the wheel trying to read a map and she says something in the lines of: “Why don’t you ever ask for directions?”

I once read about this one British guy who became a millionaire when he printed maps upside down as well as the regular way. It was a hit among women.

Now, since we are speaking of directions, men also can’t give good ones even if their lives depended on it. Have you noticed that when a man gives you directions you get lost more easily? They have not heard of the concept of landmarks, traffic lights, stop signs, and so on. It is really aggravating and we only notice it when we are already lost.

A Word of Advice:

Ladies: Study any unknown route before leaving home and leave early. Never trust a man to help you find your way, unless you remember to ask for landmarks, though I doubt he will remember any. Get driving directions from women, if they had traveled that route before, or, better yet, get them from the Internet.

Gents: Have a good map handy, always, or buy a car with a navigational computer. It is also ok to stop and read the map.