A tourist, clearly lost, pulled over in a small, rural town and spotted an old local sitting on a bench. He rolled down his window.
“Excuse me, sir,” the tourist began, “could you tell me how to get to the capital city from here?”
The old local slowly chewed on his tobacco, eyeing the fancy car. “Well, son, you go straight down this road for about five miles, then you take a left at the big oak tree.”
The tourist nodded, taking notes on his phone. “Okay, left at the big oak tree. Got it. And then?”
“Then,” the old man continued, “you’ll drive for about another ten miles, past the old mill, and you’ll see a fork in the road. You take the right fork.”
“Right fork,” the tourist repeated, meticulously typing it in. “Excellent! And from there, how much further to the capital?”
The local spat. “Oh, from there? You can’t get to the capital from there.”
The tourist looked utterly bewildered. “But… but you just gave me directions! What do you mean I can’t get there from there?”
The old man shrugged. “Well, you asked me how to get to the capital from here. And you can’t get there from here. If you wanted to go to the capital, you should’ve started from somewhere else.”