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Re: Left or right? How to determine?



<chasbo@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:s3epl71ff3u85ciuds2u0kgu88husbr3cv@xxxxxxxxxx
> Thanks for all your comments.
>
> I've found this little exercise interesting and revealing; never
> gave
> it much thought before.
>
> Though not quite clear in my message, my intent was to determine
> how
> the left and right side of a building is defined, so that I can
> direct
> people to that location orally or by printed word, using the
> adjectives left and right.  I am beginning to believe that there
> is no
> standard or universally accepted protocol for buildings.
>
> In my search I have found that some people say the left side is
> the
> side of the building that is to the left of the front of the
> building
> as viewed from outside the building while facing the front of the
> building.  [For this exercise the front is the portion of the
> building
> that contains the main entrance, front door, etc., as defined by
> the
> architect/builder, and in most cases is easily recognized by all
> of us
> when we arrive at any building.]
>
> Therefore it follows that the left and right of something in many
> cases is what the viewer says it is based on the viewer's
> location.
> It's a temporary designation with no permanence attached to the
> viewed
> object, and has no lasting importance, as in, "Hey, Joe, look at
> that
> blonde, over there to the left of that tree!"
>
> However, the left and the right side of many things remains fixed
> forever and of great importance regardless of the position of the
> viewer, and if instructed to locate a particular side, we all know
> where it is or where to go without hesitation, for example:
>
> The left lane of a multiple-lane highway, the left side of a car,
> bus,
> train, plane; the left pocket in a pair of pants, a left shoe.
>
> A common practice to facilitate the flow of pedestrian traffic,
> and
> which mimics vehicular flow, appears in wide usage:   Most people
> stay
> to the right of oncoming pedestrian traffic, whereby the oncoming
> flow
> passes us on the left. The sidewalk has no left or right
> designation,
> only the pedestrian flow. And the practice seems to have
> permanence.
>
> My garage:  In all my 50 years of home ownership my garage has not
> and
> will not rise to the level of importance to earn a permanent left
> and
> right designation. Consequently I need a few more words when
> issuing a
> directive. When I direct my daughter to fetch a rake from the
> garage I
> say, "It's on the far left when you go through the overhead door."
>
> Should a house or building rise to the level of importance that
> they
> have a fixed and permanent designation as to left and right,
> regardless of the position of the viewer?
>
> Will continue to search for an answer.
>
> Thanks all.
>
> Charlie


Dear Charlie,

Given your current state of
.....confu...anxie...desper...frustra............. observations.  I
would also like for you to contemplate the following.

1)    While talking to a fellow in Idaho, he told me, "He was
planning to go UP to Vegas."

2)    When my wife is being "navigator" on a long trip, she turns
the map upside down when we are going south because she then knows
which way to turn.

3)    While traveling across a river on a double-decker bridge, are
the people on the lower level going under the bridge or over the
river??

4)    If a rooster lays an egg at the peak of the barn roof, which
side will it roll towards??

I think that the four(4) 'above' or is it 'prior' examples should
keep you pondering into the next milemimum...................

Have a good next week and beyond.

Les








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