In the course of my random thoughts, it occurred to me. Seriously, why don’t men ever ask for directions?
This doesn’t apply to me though, because I am an avid traveler and I tend to stop every now and then to ask for directions whenever I am behind the wheel. In fact, I stop and ask way too often and I will always end up asking more, and usually unrelated, questions. Over the last weekend, we went on a road trip from Colombo to the forgotten kingdom in Yapahuwa, and then turned right back around and drove down to Kalpitiya and onward to Negombo. During the more than 500kms we traveled, I must surely have asked for directions more than a few dozen times. My motivation to stop and ask is more than just for directions. In Galgamuwa I asked a man for directions and we ended up talking about his shoe shop and fast moving shoe designs. I indulge in asking for directions because it is truly an opportunity to learn something new every time.
To a great extent, we Sri Lankans being these weirdly wonderful people, helps me do this. If strangers don’t ask us personal stuff, we get highly offended. Coming from a place known for it’s genuine hospitality, we consider them to be aloof and indifferent. Quite often, I end up discussing very personal stuff with strangers I would never meet again.
So seriously, why don’t men in general, ask for directions?
To me it seems, asking other men for directions is futile, because they are usually as clueless as you are. Then why don’t men ask women for directions? On the suggestion of my partner, the few times I asked women, they were spot on.
Now this raises another question. Why do women get their directions right, almost every time? This hurts my male ego, but truth be told, women are far more intuitive and possess higher levels of awareness, than their male counterparts. But specific to the question of directions, it could simply be that if you stop on some street and ask a woman for directions, the chances of her being a local from that very area are significantly higher than if it were a man, men being the eternal wanderers!
Still, look at the obscured truth in the question itself. “Why don’t men ask for directions?” Obviously, men would not make such negative observations about themselves, so we can safely assume that the observers of this notion about men, are predominantly female. So, by any chance, if you asked for directions from a woman on the street and were impressed that she got it right, you will still get lost because the woman in the car with you, will give you grief over that!
So if you are a man, get lost on your own. It’s the manly thing to do!
Hopefully, soon, Google maps will come to the rescue.
This doesn’t apply to me though, because I am an avid traveler and I tend to stop every now and then to ask for directions whenever I am behind the wheel. In fact, I stop and ask way too often and I will always end up asking more, and usually unrelated, questions. Over the last weekend, we went on a road trip from Colombo to the forgotten kingdom in Yapahuwa, and then turned right back around and drove down to Kalpitiya and onward to Negombo. During the more than 500kms we traveled, I must surely have asked for directions more than a few dozen times. My motivation to stop and ask is more than just for directions. In Galgamuwa I asked a man for directions and we ended up talking about his shoe shop and fast moving shoe designs. I indulge in asking for directions because it is truly an opportunity to learn something new every time.
To a great extent, we Sri Lankans being these weirdly wonderful people, helps me do this. If strangers don’t ask us personal stuff, we get highly offended. Coming from a place known for it’s genuine hospitality, we consider them to be aloof and indifferent. Quite often, I end up discussing very personal stuff with strangers I would never meet again.
So seriously, why don’t men in general, ask for directions?
To me it seems, asking other men for directions is futile, because they are usually as clueless as you are. Then why don’t men ask women for directions? On the suggestion of my partner, the few times I asked women, they were spot on.
Now this raises another question. Why do women get their directions right, almost every time? This hurts my male ego, but truth be told, women are far more intuitive and possess higher levels of awareness, than their male counterparts. But specific to the question of directions, it could simply be that if you stop on some street and ask a woman for directions, the chances of her being a local from that very area are significantly higher than if it were a man, men being the eternal wanderers!
Still, look at the obscured truth in the question itself. “Why don’t men ask for directions?” Obviously, men would not make such negative observations about themselves, so we can safely assume that the observers of this notion about men, are predominantly female. So, by any chance, if you asked for directions from a woman on the street and were impressed that she got it right, you will still get lost because the woman in the car with you, will give you grief over that!
So if you are a man, get lost on your own. It’s the manly thing to do!
Hopefully, soon, Google maps will come to the rescue.
Men don't like direction from women cause they think that it's not the right thing to do, cause they come from Mars & believe that people who come from Venus wouldn't give proper direction..
ReplyDeleteIt's also a ego boost, when they are clueless they try to find solutions of their own, the moment they feel that it's a women who has solved his problem that's when the problem starts.. specially when other male friends get to know that it's a women who helped to turn things around..
Thanks for your comment. I hope you are not like that! Actually, women are better problem solvers, because they tend to rely on more feelings than external factors. If women were in charge, perhaps things would have been much better. Meaning we would have lesser no. of wars, destruction etc.
ReplyDeleteJohn Stallcup had posted this as a comment to my original post on linkedin.
ReplyDeleteIf you put a man in a room full of interesting things for ten minutes and then take him out of the room he will remember an average of 4 things. A women in the same situation will remember over 25 things. All men are to some degree color blind, almost no women are. Most genetic diseases impact men. Women tend to have better visual acuity and hearing. About 25% of women are hypertasters only about 10% of men are hypertasters. Just a few of the built in reasons men are clueless