Lost?

It's been a while since I've really needed help with directions around here. While in Amsterdam the other day, I stood by a canal, map clenched in one hand and my Lonely Planet in the other, hoping to figure out if I'd gone too far. People squeezed around me on the sidewalk and locked their bikes to the railing I leaned on, but not a single one stopped to ask me whether I needed help finding something. I guess this wouldn't normally strike me as odd, but I had just recently spent a weekend in Scotland where--even if I had no map out and just looked slightly dazed--passers-by would smile, inquire after my health, and help me find whatever I may or may not have been looking for...