Trouble following directions

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I noticed in group situations, I'm often the guy who has no idea what's going on, even when I do my damndest to follow the instructions. Gets annoying.

I can certainly relate. Instructions need to be very clear and spelled out for me.

I have terrible trouble following directions (route directions). If I ever ask for directions I never remember what they said and can only remember their hand directions. So I just walk off in the direction they pointed thinking I will get there!

Yeah, that's definitely me. I've lived in the same city for 4 years and still get lost. I can only remember a place by remembering how I walked there before, like where certain landmarks are and where I should turn at them.

I need instructions to be clear and simple, for me to be able to understand them, and the person who's giving them, can't ramble on, the way that they do to their lady friends, afterwards. That defeats the purpose of that person giving me instructions, in the first place.

I'm the same as you all. I believe my boyfriend and parents find this particularly annoying.
When they wrap up their directions in layers of stories I become lost in the details, and confused as to which ones are important.
One day my mum asked me to bring down the laundry but her story made it difficult for me to comprehend her question.
So after having said nothing for a while I called down: "You want me to bring you the laundry... right?"
And my mum replied: "Yes (!) dear."

Spoken instructions might as well be in Greek... But written ones are easy for me to understand, comprehend and follow. If someone tells me how to disassemble a motorcycle carburetor, all I hear is "KIUJCLIUJBC IDIOECN JE*(YDBC E&#*UBC KEKLOJEI". If I read the whole procedure from the manual, I can see each step in my head as I read, and then I have no problem recalling each step when I go to do the job.

Charles

What I hate about someone giving instructions is when my mind blanks and then returns. Then I'm like F**k! What do I do now? I try to write everything down in sequence if I can or even making detailed diagrams so I can use them later.

I can't seem to simply watch someone or something doing something in order to understand what I'm supposed to do... I have to read the instructions, on paper, myself. And even then I occasionally get confused.

A man once implied I could not pour pee out of a boot even if the instructions were written on the bottom of the boot. He was essentially correct in at least some ways, and today I no longer hesitate about asking for direction or clarification whenever I do not understand. That does not guarantee my questions will always be answered, of course, and often, they actually are not. Nevertheless, I would rather be merely *thought* of as "ignorant" than to proceed anyway and end up actually proving myself foolish.