🌆 Picture this: You’re finally taking that dream trip to Dallas, Texas. You wanna experience the real deal – sizzling BBQ in Deep Ellum, the grassy knoll, a Cowboys game at AT&T Stadium. But you’ve never been. So you start asking around…

📞 First, you call your best friend who moved to Dallas last year. She lives in Uptown, knows every taco joint. She texts you: “Go to Pecan Lodge for brisket, and rent a car – don’t rely on the trolley.” You trust her completely. She’s your connected interface – direct, reliable, AD 0.

🏨 Then you check with the hotel concierge at the Statler. He gives you a glossy brochure: “Take the DART rail, visit the Sixth Floor Museum.” Solid advice, but he’s got a stack of sponsored pamphlets. You still trust him – that’s your static route, AD 1.

📱 You jump on Google and Yelp. Hundreds of reviews for “best BBQ in Dallas.” Some say Lockhart’s, others swear by Terry Black’s. Overwhelming but useful – this is like OSPF (AD 110) or RIP (AD 120): lots of paths, but you gotta filter the noise.

🛍️ Finally, you’re at the NorthPark Mall, and a random stranger overhears you asking for directions. He grabs your arm: “Don’t go to Dallas! It’s dangerous, stay in the mall.” You barely glance at him. That’s external EIGRP (AD 170) – a source so untrusted, you almost ignore it completely.

🧠 Your brain just did what a router does every millisecond: It ranked every piece of information by trustworthiness – that’s Administrative Distance. The most believable source (your friend) gets used; the mall stranger gets discarded.