Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Information Center
For some reason, I am frequently stopped by people on the street and asked for directions. When I first moved to Chicago, I of course had very little idea of what to tell people, unless they really needed to know how to get to my office or the nearest Taco Bell, so I would simply smile haplessly and explain that I was a bit new to the area myself. I was sometimes tempted to make up elaborate lies simply for the pleasure of directing tourists to Te Jay's Adult Book Store in lieu of The Cheesecake Factory, but I largely controlled those impulses.
Now I've got a better idea of where things are, but I find it's not always easy to get the message across. For one thing, the minute I start talking about heading North or West, people get a blank look on their faces as though there aren't directional indicators on every single street sign in this city and a big ole lake doesn't occupy the entire Eastern perimeter. For another, I tend to tell directions by landmarks rather than street names, which leads me to give instructions like "turn right at the big white building" and "if you see the White Hen Pantry, you've gone too far." Typically, things devolve into a lot of pointing and waiving, before the frustrated information seeker simply thanks me and moves on, hoping the cashier at the Walgreen's will have slightly better spatial sense.
No one ever said that living to help others would be easy.
For some reason, I am frequently stopped by people on the street and asked for directions. When I first moved to Chicago, I of course had very little idea of what to tell people, unless they really needed to know how to get to my office or the nearest Taco Bell, so I would simply smile haplessly and explain that I was a bit new to the area myself. I was sometimes tempted to make up elaborate lies simply for the pleasure of directing tourists to Te Jay's Adult Book Store in lieu of The Cheesecake Factory, but I largely controlled those impulses.
Now I've got a better idea of where things are, but I find it's not always easy to get the message across. For one thing, the minute I start talking about heading North or West, people get a blank look on their faces as though there aren't directional indicators on every single street sign in this city and a big ole lake doesn't occupy the entire Eastern perimeter. For another, I tend to tell directions by landmarks rather than street names, which leads me to give instructions like "turn right at the big white building" and "if you see the White Hen Pantry, you've gone too far." Typically, things devolve into a lot of pointing and waiving, before the frustrated information seeker simply thanks me and moves on, hoping the cashier at the Walgreen's will have slightly better spatial sense.
No one ever said that living to help others would be easy.
