Where am I? Where am I Going?

The term “news” comes from the geographical
directions of North, East, West and South. It’s
shocking to me how little people know about
geography, and what’s East or West, or what’s
North or South.
Americans have let their geographical
knowledge fall so much that many don’t know
the difference between Paris, France and Paris
Hilton.
But Americans are not alone—lack of
knowledge is contagious and worldwide. Many
of my friends here in Asia have no idea exactly
where Bangkok or Seoul are situated—the best
they can do is get to the airport and go to the
correct gate, get on a plane, and end up wherever
they’re going. Being oriented locally, or
globally is low on the priority list, as long as you
can have someone else find your way.
So what’s wrong with that? Two things; one, in
life, you will get lost. You better be resourceful
enough to find your way home, or you could end
up broke, or worse, dead. Being directionally
ignorant is no joke. Two, knowledge is power.
In life, you need to know where you are to figure
out where you are going. (Or others will gladly
tell you where to go! I think you get the idea.)
Recently, a beauty contestant in America made
headlines for completely botching a question
about geography—she looked like an idiot. Do
you want to look like an idiot? If I asked you
“How do I get to from here to there?”, could you
tell me? Or would I get the ubiquitous “I don’t
know” response?

Key Words

Geography-n-the study of places, maps, locales.

Contagious-adj-something that is easily spread.

Situated-adj-the location of something, where it sits.

Oriented-adj-having knowledge and awareness of the location of places and things.

Resourceful-adj-able to use what is available and make the most of it.

Directionally-adv-the ability of knowing which way to go.

Botching-v-doing something very badly, poorly.

Ubiquitous-adj-everywhere, very common.