A walking atlas
I don’t know why it is, but strangers seem to regard me as a walking atlas. Perhaps I have a knowledgeable face and an ungrumpy countenance, which I can’t say that I feel.
Wherever I am in the world it’s happened that people I’ve never seen before or since come to me and ask for directions.
I was in Zurich, Switzerland, in the early 90s and strangers approached me on the tram, or walking the footpath. “Ich weiß es nicht,” was all I could think to say, adding in pigeon German that “Ich bin auslander”.
Such enquiries no longer surprise me and I’m happy to oblige. It’s difficult though in places like Zurich and Sydney where I have no local knowledge.
I know Melbourne reasonably well and was in the city this afternoon for a meeting, when an English gent asked me for directions to Russell Street. From two blocks away on Elizabeth Street that was easy!
These articles might be of interest:
A buddy and I were in Wyoming many years ago and asked a guy for directions to a local attraction.
As we followed the route we were given we noticed that every landmark he used was a bar.