Giving Directions: practicing the odd, misleading, and almost always imprecise art of giving and receiving directions

Providence, Rhode Island, is a city in which I am prone (susceptible) to wrong turns, and on my last trip there, I made the inevitable stop at a bodega to find out how I might find my way out of town and back to Route 6. he elderly man behind the counter gave me e!tensive instructions that included circling back the way I had come, taking a shortcut through an alley, and crossing two bridges. "ut as I left the store, a twenty something costumer followed me out to suggest a much simpler, #uicker, and more direct route that involved reversing course, going straight, and making a single turn. he difference in these two offerings illustrates that how one gives directions tends to be a highly individual, personal, and sometimes even poetic enterprise.

Providence, Rhode Island, es una ciudad en la que yo soy propenso (susceptible) a los giros equivocados, y en mi ltimo viaje all, hice la parada inevitable en una bodega para averiguar cmo podra encontrar el camino uera de la ciudad y de regreso a Ruta !" #l hombre mayor detr$s del mostrador me dio e%tensas instrucciones que incluan yendo de regreso por donde haba llegado, tomando un atajo por un callejn, y cru&ando dos puentes" Pero cuando sal de la tienda, un cliente de veinte algo me sigui a sugerir una ruta directa mucho m$s simple, m$s r$pido y m$s que involucr supuesto de marcha atr$s, todo recto, y hacer una sola vuelta" 'a di erencia en estas dos o ertas que ilustra cmo uno da direcciones tiende a ser una empresa altamente individual, personal, e incluso a veces po(tica"