“That” Post…
Posted April 24th, 2009 by Zane
Well, I absolutely hate blog posts that start with an apology for how long it has been since writing…but it appears it is my turn to write “that” post. Sorry that it has been so long since I wrote last. There, I said, lets move on, shall we?
Just wanted to share a series of funny events with you which happen repeatedly in my life. In Brazil it is not uncommon for drivers to ask other drivers or pedestrians for directions. Its not uncommon to be in a car with somebody and that person stop and ask for directions 3-4 times during your journey. But even if this is a common practice, I still find it humorous when somebody pulls over and ask ME where something is or what is the best way to get to a certain location. It is kinda like losing the population lottery whenever somebody asks me for directions. There’s about a 50% chance that I will understand what you are asking, if you are successful in the first part there’s another 50% chance I’ll know where it is, and if you succeed in the first two, then there’s a further 50% chance that I’ll know the street names to tell you how to get there. That gives you about a 12% chance overall that I’m going to know what’s going on, add to that the 50% chance that you won’t understand my response and you’ve got about a 6% shot of getting successful directions.
And this isn’t just a one-time thing, its happened almost every week since we arrived. Today a guy in a large deliver truck yelled at me from the street asking for directions (did I mention his truck was loud and that I don’t understand yelling?). So I had to give him the obligatory, “I don’t know” and continue on with my head held in shame. While April and I were recently visiting a city nearby a few weeks ago somebody pulled up and asked me for directions to a store…as I was holding a tourist map in hand trying to find the “Crystal Palace”. Its gives me a little chuckle every time somebody asks me for directions, and leaves me a little saddened that I can’t help them find what they are looking for…I hope they made it home safely!