Directions from pedestrians

NYC XYZ wrote:
Not necessarily the case in NYC -- matter of fact, I can't remember the
last time a cop gave me directions in the City. They're often on loan
from other precincts, etc. Very odd, but there you have it.

And no, postmen and women are hardly better.

I've come to rely on myself and my maps -- my luck, in other words! --
so I probably didn't give "statistics" a chance for an NYPD cop to give
me directions, but, oh well, I'm glad they were honest in not knowing
instead of attempting to help and send me off wrong.


I've found if you stumble on a fire station, they know the area very
well, and will check their (far more up to date than mapquest) map
anyway. If they're not busy on a call (good reason to not even
approach the station), they are glad for the change of pace. They also
usually know about road closings and partial closings, construction
that may cause temporary road obstructions, alternate routes, etc.

I can remember in the '70s listening to a scanner conversation where
the police dispatcher called a police squad, who didn't know where the
address was, and the dispatcher didn't either, and so the dispatcher
called the fire station to get directions.

It taught me where the real directions are, and taught me to always
give a cross street and nearby landmark if the need to call 911 arose.

Austin

AustinMN wrote:
:: NYC XYZ wrote:
::: Not necessarily the case in NYC -- matter of fact, I can't remember
::: the last time a cop gave me directions in the City. They're often
::: on loan from other precincts, etc. Very odd, but there you have it.
:::
::: And no, postmen and women are hardly better.
:::
::: I've come to rely on myself and my maps -- my luck, in other words!
::: -- so I probably didn't give "statistics" a chance for an NYPD cop
::: to give me directions, but, oh well, I'm glad they were honest in
::: not knowing instead of attempting to help and send me off wrong.
:::
::
:: I've found if you stumble on a fire station, they know the area very
:: well, and will check their (far more up to date than mapquest) map
:: anyway. If they're not busy on a call (good reason to not even
:: approach the station), they are glad for the change of pace. They
:: also usually know about road closings and partial closings,
:: construction that may cause temporary road obstructions, alternate
:: routes, etc.
::

firestations are also good places to pee and refill water bottles. One must
use common sense when going in one, though. Don't leave your bike in the
way of a truck or in a place that would impede firefighters. The guys in
firestations are always nice to me when I stop in.

:: I can remember in the '70s listening to a scanner conversation where
:: the police dispatcher called a police squad, who didn't know where
:: the address was, and the dispatcher didn't either, and so the
:: dispatcher called the fire station to get directions.
::
:: It taught me where the real directions are, and taught me to always
:: give a cross street and nearby landmark if the need to call 911
:: arose.
::
:: Austin

wrote in news:1137554990.190449.318420
@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com:

I like the summary review a lot, and I try to remember to do that for
others.

I don't remember the hysterically funny details of the joke, and the
accents don't come out right in print, but the punch line is "never mind
the thanks, repeat the instructions."

--ag

Was it Rodney Dangerfield who said, "You go down this road 'til you come to
the corner where the old schoolhouse USED to be"?

Leo Lichtman wrote:
Was it Rodney Dangerfield who said, "You go down this road 'til you come to
the corner where the old schoolhouse USED to be"?

I was in the drug store in a local small town a couple of years and the
clerk told some tourists to try the XYZ store down the block. Good
instructions except that the XYZ store had changed name three times.

Roger Zoul wrote:

firestations are also good places to pee and refill water bottles. One must
use common sense when going in one, though. Don't leave your bike in the
way of a truck or in a place that would impede firefighters. The guys in
firestations are always nice to me when I stop in.


Agreed!
Also police stations. Once when touring as a poor college student we
were bike camping and the night got very cold as we were camped in a
park in northern Wisconsin. The local cops knew we were there and came
by ~ midnight and offered us cots in the local lock-up. In the morning
they treated us to a great breakfast.

wrote:
Leo Lichtman wrote:

Was it Rodney Dangerfield who said, "You go down this road 'til you come to
the corner where the old schoolhouse USED to be"?


I was in the drug store in a local small town a couple of years and the
clerk told some tourists to try the XYZ store down the block. Good
instructions except that the XYZ store had changed name three times.


Small towns tend to have unofficial names for things, often related to
people who once lived bearby. So Woodchuck Lake (official map name),
might be known as Kane Lake, because Ebenezer Kane built a house on the
shore, even though he has been gone, for 100 years, and nobody named
Kane has lived in town for 75 years, locals still call it Kane Lake.
Ask a local where Woodchuck Lake is, and they look at you funny, "ain't
no lake by that name around here, only lake around here is Kane Lake,
there might be a Woodchuck lake over by Hooterville".

W

Leo Lichtman wrote:
Was it Rodney Dangerfield who said, "You go down this road 'til you come to
the corner where the old schoolhouse USED to be"?

I remember trying to use a Lonely Planet book in Guangzhou China. The
name of the hotel has changed years earlier, as had the street it was
located on.

I think that they finally fixed it about 15 years after the name changes
back to the pre-cultural revolution names. Reminds of me reading "The
Handsomest Man in Cuba" and the authors constant complaints about Lonely
Planet's inaccuracies.

Renmin Daxia (people's mansion) to Ai Qun.

"The Wogster" wrote in message
. ..
wrote:
Leo Lichtman wrote:

I was in the drug store in a local small town a couple of years and the
clerk told some tourists to try the XYZ store down the block. Good
instructions except that the XYZ store had changed name three times.


Small towns tend to have unofficial names for things,

Truth. The small town that can claim me as a born and bred native was like
that. Sure, streets and lakes and rivers had names. but growing up they were
pretty much unknown or ignored. by locals. 'Down thataway', 'the lake',
'over yonder' were the height of precision.