Re: Left or right? How to determine?

["Bob La Londe" <none@xxxxxxxx>]

<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?

Ships, and stages are all I can really think of off hand, and ships have
different terminology specifically to avoid that confusion.