Fings ain't what they used to be

[chickenfeet]

Yes, it's another "in my day" post inspired by scarletdemon's description of her (largely non-existent) map reading skills.

I'm rather proud of my ability to use a map and compass. This is a skill lemur_catta sees no use for as, apparently, Californians never set foot out of doors unless the visibility will be perfect for the next three weeks. I, on the other hand, have on occasions been daft enough to be places in the British mountains in zero visibility where a few tens of yards can be the difference between a gentle descent route and falling off a cliff.

How did I acquire this skill? Oddly enough at prep skill where we learnt map reading by a method somewhat akin to throwing a child in the deep end of the pool and letting him figure things out for himself. To be exact, we were taken off in pairs and deposited in the English countryside some miles from a set rendez-vous with an OS map, a compass and a file card containing instructions on how to reach said meet up. I don't think we lost many boys this way but natural selection probably influenced the geography exam results.

Comments

[scarletdemon.livejournal.com]

Hahaha "In my day"...I'm only a year younger than you! But I didn't go to a posh school. And I lived on a small island, where getting lost was hard to do. ;)

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

It wasn't all that posh and I had a state scholarship. Bah!

[scarletdemon.livejournal.com]

Hey, these days I'm paying for my little one to learn how to be posh... So don't get defensive. Hehehe. "State Scholarship"? Nerdy AND posh?

*Runs away fast*

*Runs back*

Hello BTW!

[karen2205]

Hmm - I can read Ordnance Survey maps too (I don't feel particularly confident in my abilities, but I *can* do it) - one of the products of being involved with Guiding for so long. I'd be prepared to teach others how to map read too - but I'm not sure I'd replicate the way you were taught (even ignoring the safety issues) - the same way I'd never throw a non-swimmer in deep water as a method of teaching swimming.

[ceruleanblue3.livejournal.com]

I remember those things, I think. They called it orienteering when I did it, and left little clues along the way.
I do love the OS maps. Wonderful things.

[tanuja.livejournal.com]

Mr Tanuja loves hiking & orienteering and amongst other things is fantastic with a compass & OS map. Me? I was a Girl Guide (Scout to you Americans) and a Sea Ranger & I get lost walking on a well marked trail.

However, in towns Mr Tanuja gets lost all the blydi time (once when coming home from work, a route he'd only done for the previous 6 months). I, however, can read maps with streets and street names and rarely get lost in cities and towns.

I suppose, on the whole, we should be grateful for this divergence of our map reading talents :)