[redwitch]

I absolutely refuse to hijack CIB's thread since it is a serious topic, but you guys wait til you get to TV!

I am directionally challenged. I can find anything by landmarks but if you tell me to go north, I go HUH? My brother was just urbanly and suburbanly challenged. He could get lost going around the block, but put him in the wilds and he would always find what he was looking for and bring it home.

I haven't quite figured out what the appropriate consequence for such chauvanistic comments should be, but I'm sure Linda B and the Boss would be happy to help me determine appropriate punishments for the two of you.

SHAME ON YER!!!!

[Russ_Boston]

You don't know where north is but you live in the sunshine state? During the day at least that should be the easy part. If i get lost in TV (I won't though :joke I'll seek you out for help.

Don't worry, there are lots of things that women are better at than men.

Chuck? Bail me out pal, we're getting burned here.

[Muncle]

Guys, you know how women are. ??? If I'm ever unsure of directions in TV, I look for the mountains and get my bearings from them. :yikes: If it's hazy or I'm unable to see the mountains for any other reason, I look at the compass in my rear view mirror. :bigthumbsup: If all that fails, there are several ladies in TOTV who will gladly tell me where to go. wav

[gemorc]

Boy, I sure miss the old gas station on the corner.

[chuckinca]

when I said "it is a girl thing" it is because I recently read a study on how men and women differ on how they locate places.

The study said that men use cardinal directions and women use known places.

I plead guilty of passing on new knowledge.

[redwitch]

Russ, I'm truly pathetic -- I understand I traveled southeast to get here but I cannot stand on a corner and be able to tell you which way west is even if the sun is setting (or rising). But it is a ME thing, not a female thing. I know many females who are quite good with directions. I do compensate though -- I can read a map from any direction, figure out where I'm at and know when to turn right left or the like.

And, Chuck, nice try. Might buy it if you can give me a source. Otherwise, I refuse to believe that men go by cardinal directions -- if they did, they might at least get close to where they want to go rather than 100 miles out of the way.

I'm gonna be nice and let gemorc and muncle slide .... this time! (But don't push it fellas.)

[chelsea24]

Just a quick story to add: My husband and I were on a road trip and it was his turn to drive. So, I fell asleep for 1 1/2 hr. When I woke up we were passing the same exit we were at when I fell asleep! Yup! He had become so lost and confused we literally had reached the same place I had fallen asleep. Talk about a Twilight Zone feeling!

For the other side of the coin: I can easily go two or three times around these roundabouts before I figure out which road to take! :dontknow:

[Sidney Lanier]

One of our sons has such a poor sense of direction (that is, if he has ANY sense of direction...) that once he and a friend were driving cross country, and at one point when the friend went to sleep in the back seat and our son continued driving, he somehow managed to turn the car around and drove over 100 miles in the wrong direction.

I might add that he later became a cross-country tractor trailer driver.... Hated the work, but it paid well and allowed him to save enough to return to college and finance it himself and then buy a commercial property and create a successful business.

Sense of direction? Whazzat? '-)

[chuckinca]

Originally Posted by redwitch

Russ, I'm truly pathetic -- I understand I traveled southeast to get here but I cannot stand on a corner and be able to tell you which way west is even if the sun is setting (or rising). But it is a ME thing, not a female thing. I know many females who are quite good with directions. I do compensate though -- I can read a map from any direction, figure out where I'm at and know when to turn right left or the like.

And, Chuck, nice try. Might buy it if you can give me a source. Otherwise, I refuse to believe that men go by cardinal directions -- if they did, they might at least get close to where they want to go rather than 100 miles out of the way.

I'm gonna be nice and let gemorc and muncle slide .... this time! (But don't push it fellas.)

http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal...accno=ED260358

Apology accepted

[redwitch]

Sorry, Chuck, no apology forthcoming. Not sure I can accept a 1985 paper that says it has "empricial support" for much of anything. At least spell the words correctly in your summation. sheesh!!!! Besides, this paper is not on how men/women locate things but rather on how they give directions. "Several aspects of the data, however, argue against a strong competence interpretation and may instead support a sex difference in the preference of select features of direction-giving." (p. 11) It just proves that women have the common sense to use landmarks which are easier to see than saying go X miles north, then turn east for Y miles, which are subjective and often inaccurate (unless memorized from a map. So, until I see more EMPIRICAL data (not just speculation, theory or discussion of giving directions), I'll stand by my comments that I'm sure your wives will be happy to help me come up with a suitable consequence for chauvinistic comments upon your arrival in TV.

[chuckinca]

I only have one wife - and she insisted that her new car have navigation.

[redwitch]

The "wives" is in reference to yours and Russ's.

[chuckinca]

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m..._78361730/pg_1

[redwitch]

Much better thesis! However, it still doesn't prove that women are directionally challenged just that females prefer to give directions via landmarks rather than cardinal points. This simply could be due to better manners -- it is easier to find things through visual sightings (the Shell station on the right, restaurant on the left, etc.) than some inate inability to tell north from south.

That being said, I am willing to accept that MAYBE women don't know cardinal directions as well as men. There is no question that spatial distances are not our forte. I know I hate when my GPS tells me to turn left in a quarter mile -- I'm always wondering when a quarter mile is up. (Fortunately, it also tells me when I hit the 300, 100 and 60 yard mark and then is kind enough to tell me to take the next left/right.)

From discussions I've had with my female friends, if push comes to shove, most can tell the cardinal directions. They just prefer to not do so. I truly can't, even if my life depended on it. North is towards the Arctic Circle and a compass always points north. California is west. I'm living in Central Florida which is on the American East Coast. South of here is Miami and the Florida Keys. Now, put me on the road and ask me what direction I'm going and I'll go towards Ocala. If you ask me the cardinal direction, I'll squirm, think hard and finally go I don't know.

So, I stand that you two made some highly inflammatory, chauvinistic comments. I'll also grant you that you based these comments on the fact that women are gracious enough to not use directions when there is a landmark available.

(Do you get the feeling I like to argue trivial details?)

[Russ_Boston]

I had a really great retort ready after reading Red's lengthy diatribes but in the spirit of friendship and the fact that I'll be down there in two weeks - I'll hold my tongue! Let's just say that if i meet any of the TOTV regulars down in TV I don't think I'll need to be driving the conversation. :joke:

I hope you don't think that I'm misogynistic. Working in a field that is over 90% women (RN's) you wouldn't last long if you didn't respect the intelligence of your peers.