I have a grouse against people who don't know how to give directions...
I wanted to know the location of Karur Vysya bank and so I called a friend to know where it is.
"It is somewhere past Hot Chips", he said. It could be anywhere.
"Coming or going?", I asked.
"Going", he answered. I had narrowed it down somewhat.
"Going where?", I asked.
""Towards Mambalam", he replied. It is not of much help, because there are many ways to Mambalam past Hot Chips.
"Which way?", I asked.
"The way you usually go", he answered. Now, there are two or three or even fours roads I take, depending on the traffic.
We got stuck there. Okay, it was my fault, but he had no idea where it was, it was vaguely somewhere in between Hot Chips and Mambalam. My further questions made him say the same thing louder and louder, as if that makes it easier to understand.
Have you noticed how some people, if they think you don't understand what they say, they raise their voice as if that would get sense into your head? Now, what do say about the way their brains work? Is it that they think sound is like light, the more you throw in, the more it reveals? They are the ones that bust an artery or something, sure.
And there is the opposite type. Their voice gets tight and tense as they see it is not easy to get into your thick head. Their voice gets lower and lower and their clenched fist almost comes through the phone, the bunched up muscles of the abdomen are almost visible. This is the type that get ulcers I think.
Why is it difficult to say it nice and easy, "I don't know"?
They must have made a pledge every morning to have fun in their lives.
ReplyDeleteWhen I came to Madras for my job, it was my first long term stay in the city. I was obviously new to almost everywhere in the city, except for the route between my office and residence. Even then, a slight diversion would toss my orientation, mainly because I could rarely find someone who is honest in showing directions. Be it accepting that they do not know it, or to show the direction easily.
I was shown the wrong directions (usually opposite ones) for at least 20 times in the first month, including wrong bus routes. I stopped asking. Knowing that you were misdirected is worse and frustrating than to actually get lost. The blazing sun only increases it.
Two things here. Many people know the route but fail to communicate properly. They use vague terms like there, here, that way, this way etc.
ReplyDeleteSecond, the Chennai culture is such that it's perfectly okay to mislead a person. There are people who do it purposefully and there are people who show you the route for a place which they don't know where. Chennai's heat has probably got something to do with it.
In my experience Auto guys are some what reasonable than the man on the road. Route is in their blood and is difficult to mislead even if they want.
Yes, I agree with you both. I find that people here at chennai take a perverse delight in misdirecting you: when they see that you don't know something, they actually feel superior and look at you like you would look at a total moron.
ReplyDeleteAnd I have to confess that I have made my share of misdirections, mostly out of confusion, and sometimes from a lack of time.