Relative Directions

Ever had someone give you directions to a location using only relative directions?  A relative direction is one that is dependent upon something else.  So if you tell me to turn left off the highway by the big elm tree, you are giving me two relative directions.  The first, and most important, is the left turn.  If you tell me to turn left, left is relative to the direction that I was traveling.  If I was traveling east on the highway, a left turn would send me north.  If I was traveling west a left turn would send me south.  So if this relative directional turn sends me in the wrong direction, every instruction following is null and void.  The elm tree is also relative, being that there is potentially more than one along this particular highway, and there could be multiple roads close by each one of them.  So once I see this so-called elm tree, do I turn before or after it?  If you want to make sure you give someone proper directions, make sure you actually give them the directions.  If I need to turn north off of the highway, by the big elm tree onto Vineyard Road, tell me that.  In order to use relative directions you must tell me at least one absolute direction as a point of reference.  From that point on, the directions could possibly be (although I don't recommend it) relative, because you have started me in the right direction. But if you give me at least one absolute direction, I should be able to figure out the pattern of relativity.  Think back to Geometry class, if you have a triangle, and are told that the angle of one corner is 90 degrees, you can figure out the angle of the other 2 corners.  Because the angles are relative to each other, without having that crucial piece of information we cannot determine the other angles.  Geometry, much like directions, need a point of reference for the information to be accurate.  So please use North, South, East, and West in your directions at least one time, preferrably towards the beginning.  If these elude you, please buy a compass.