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A lot of gas stations also have people who can help with directions! :)

madengr 9y ago
If the parent is a guy, he probably wouldn’t ask. I’ll print out maps prior to business trips. Does anyone still print backup transparencies?
- jason_slack 9y ago
  Agreed. My wife makes me ask when technology fails and I want to trust my Boy Scout instincts.
- toomuchtodo 9y ago
  I still keep a paper atlas in the car of the entire US. Batteries, entire phones die. Cell signal is not ubiquitous.
  - jaclaz 9y ago
    Yes, I too have a paper atlas (EU) in the glovebox, there is something in online/navigator maps that somehow prevents me from having a "general idea" of the whereabouts, when you zoom out you often lose details, and at least for me it is confusing whilst with the paper map I find it easier to orientate myself. BTW I also have a spare charging cable/adapter for the car, actually I have one of those "generic" octopus like cables that fit most phones, with a USB A plug on the other end and the 12 V to 5 V adapter, the cable can be used also to charge from a USB port of a computer or from a "generic" charger with a USB receptacle.
    - netsharc 9y ago
      Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear has a tip I found really useful: set the navigation device so north is up, "you'll never get lost again" (he exaggerates a lot).
      - jaclaz 9y ago
        Yes, that's Jeremy Clarkson, of course he exaggerates, but my issue is not much about "orientation", but rather with the zoom level (on a tiny device), maybe the actual colours/contrast/backlight/glare, I seem to "lose" the actual main road because a secundary one at a different zoom level seems "prevailing". Or maybe it is just my poor eyesight, I sometimes need to take my spectacles off to see the details on a smartphone at close distance, yet I don't (yet) need reading glasses (at least not for printed paper).
  - mstade 9y ago
    When I was a kid my dad would occasionally get lost when we were driving to some other town – usually to pick something up, I'd reluctantly tag along as the carrying help – and every so often he'd stop by the side of the road and ask me to pull out the atlas. Then he'd sit there, figure out where we were, figure out how to get to where we were going, or to the next waypoint, then give me instructions to read out where to go. "Next right, straight for about 10 miles then there's a dirt road on the left" – that sort of thing. Those were good drives. No distractions, other than farm houses and the occasional cow or horse.
mark-r 9y ago
They used to, before GPS. Now the gas station employee is likely to be just as clueless without a phone giving directions.
mikestew 9y ago
It was true thirty years ago when I first said it, still true today: never ask locals for directions. First, you’d be surprised how many people don’t know their own city. Second, if they do know the city, they’ll leave out a lot of assumptions. Like “turn left where the old church used to be”. Personal experience says you’re going to be at best 50/50 on getting useful information. Source: my motorcycle has been a lot of places over the years.

If the parent is a guy, he probably wouldn’t ask. I’ll print out maps prior to business trips. Does anyone still print backup transparencies?

jason_slack 9y ago
Agreed. My wife makes me ask when technology fails and I want to trust my Boy Scout instincts.
toomuchtodo 9y ago
I still keep a paper atlas in the car of the entire US. Batteries, entire phones die. Cell signal is not ubiquitous.
- jaclaz 9y ago
  Yes, I too have a paper atlas (EU) in the glovebox, there is something in online/navigator maps that somehow prevents me from having a "general idea" of the whereabouts, when you zoom out you often lose details, and at least for me it is confusing whilst with the paper map I find it easier to orientate myself. BTW I also have a spare charging cable/adapter for the car, actually I have one of those "generic" octopus like cables that fit most phones, with a USB A plug on the other end and the 12 V to 5 V adapter, the cable can be used also to charge from a USB port of a computer or from a "generic" charger with a USB receptacle.
  - netsharc 9y ago
    Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear has a tip I found really useful: set the navigation device so north is up, "you'll never get lost again" (he exaggerates a lot).
    - jaclaz 9y ago
      Yes, that's Jeremy Clarkson, of course he exaggerates, but my issue is not much about "orientation", but rather with the zoom level (on a tiny device), maybe the actual colours/contrast/backlight/glare, I seem to "lose" the actual main road because a secundary one at a different zoom level seems "prevailing". Or maybe it is just my poor eyesight, I sometimes need to take my spectacles off to see the details on a smartphone at close distance, yet I don't (yet) need reading glasses (at least not for printed paper).
- mstade 9y ago
  When I was a kid my dad would occasionally get lost when we were driving to some other town – usually to pick something up, I'd reluctantly tag along as the carrying help – and every so often he'd stop by the side of the road and ask me to pull out the atlas. Then he'd sit there, figure out where we were, figure out how to get to where we were going, or to the next waypoint, then give me instructions to read out where to go. "Next right, straight for about 10 miles then there's a dirt road on the left" – that sort of thing. Those were good drives. No distractions, other than farm houses and the occasional cow or horse.

mark-r 9y ago

They used to, before GPS. Now the gas station employee is likely to be just as clueless without a phone giving directions.

mikestew 9y ago

It was true thirty years ago when I first said it, still true today: never ask locals for directions. First, you’d be surprised how many people don’t know their own city. Second, if they do know the city, they’ll leave out a lot of assumptions. Like “turn left where the old church used to be”. Personal experience says you’re going to be at best 50/50 on getting useful information. Source: my motorcycle has been a lot of places over the years.