Motorists: Think before you ask...

It was about 7:15 --- later than I like to run, and it was very dark. I had just crossed Walnut Street, and was heading into Newtonville at a pretty good clip. I had already run pretty hard for six miles and I was looking forward to getting home and having dinner. Stopping was the last thing on my mind.

That's when the woman stepped out of the taxi and said "Excuse me!" and as I slowed, I knew she wanted directions. "Do you know where Highland Street is?" she asked, and I stopped there on the sidewalk and tried to think...

..."Yes," I said, "sure," but I wasn't thinking very clearly. I started to give directions, "Go to the next light, turn right on Otis, then right again..." Wait a minute, is that right? For a moment, I couldn't remember whether there was a light at the corner of Otis and Lowell. "...turn right on Lowell..." I'd better start again. "Turn right at the lights onto Otis, then right at the next set of lights onto Lowell, then take your next Left. That's Highland Street." She thanked me and got back into her car.

I resumed my run.

About two minutes later, I realized I had given her directions to Highland Avenue. Amazing, considering that my father grew up on Highland Avenue, and that I do all my hill workouts on Highland Street. I would never, ever confuse the two... unless of course someone asked me for directions at the end of a run, when the amount of oxygen coursing through my brain was insufficient for even rudimentary navigation.

Motorists, please! Remember that the runner you ask for directions is in a severaly impaired mental state. Never trust what they say to you. They might look harmless, jogging through the streets without a care in the world, but they are fonts of inaccurate information. Next time, think twice before you decide to seek their counsel.