And then, what's wrong with asking someone for directions? I've been asked many times in the olden days and never once was it an unpleasant experience.
The frequently terrible answers!
Ask this 14 year old....
https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/14/us/michigan-man-shoots-at-tee...
The last thing I want to do is be lost somewhere in the South. Yes I live in the south.
The "anecdote" is even in my own neighborhood, if my son invites some of his White friends (who are his guests) to hang out at our neighborhood pool. He gets asked does he belong there? Do you think I would leave him in a position to have to walk up and ask a random stranger for directions if he got lost while driving?
It was sheer luck that both the teenager didn't die and the guys own camera showed he was lying. If the boy had been killed the man would have gotten off. If the camera hadn't been there, they would have taken the word of "upstanding member of society -- a retired fireman" over the word of "just another teenage thug" and the boy would have been arrested.
Not to detract from your experience (after all, you live there), but I doubt that situation is representative of most of the world.
I must give off some kind of approachable vibe, because I get asked for directions by strangers at least once a week.
completely wasting their time. use your phone.