Going Which Way?

This week's commentary is by 60 Minutes Wednesday Columnist Steve Hartman.

But on those rare occasions when I do get lost, and on those even rarer occasions when I ask for directions, I always get insanely frustrated.

So why are people so bad at giving directions?

I repeatedly pulled up to a street corner, and asked dozens of different people for directions to get to the thruway.

With great confidence, they all told me to start out going north ... "Take a right here."

Or south: "Make the left."

Or some combination of the two: "Go left, right."

People make directions a lot more complicated than they need to be. And to confuse matters even more, most people talk with their hands when giving directions. Some gestures are meant to be taken literally – while I can only hope that others are not. I'm trying to find a freeway, not park a DC-10.

But as usual, I found the most important part of the directions – the street name, is what most people leave out.

Hartman: What street is that?

Woman: You don't have to say streets because this is easy. You'll see a Mobil station on the right.

Why do I need to know every significant landmark -- not to mention most every insignificant one?

Generally speaking, the directions took longer than the drive.

One guy went on for seven full minutes: "It's a circle that goes around like this, but you don't want to go all the way around it. You want to cut right, keep going, then cut over. Traffic is going to be coming around, traffic is going to be coming this way."

Heck, if it's really that complicated, I might as well pull over, rent an apartment, and start a new life. I mean, getting lost is what made America great. If Christopher Columbus had pulled over his Pinta and asked directions, where would we be right now?

Remember that the next time I ask you for directions, and feel free to tell me where to go.