Navigation

In the olden days, we often referred to a map for directions to a new place, or in the rare case you got lost. Men were stuck with the stereotype for never asking for directions when they were lost, and the women were there to always back it up with an I told you so.

So along came the internet, and mapquest and such were born. This was to help ease the problem of getting lost and to save a few marriages. What often happened was the passenger would become the navigator, reading off the instructions. Much safer way to avoid an argument over asking for directions right? Nooooo, directions were often wrong, rarely provided information on detours and one way streets and couldn't tell you an alternate route when traffic was bad. Couples again were hopelessly stuck in the loop of asking for directions.

Then....GPS was created and made available to the masses. The military had been using it just fine to guide missiles and coordinate troops. So if the military can do it....why not the average human being? These cute little devices that suction cup to your windshield magically tell you in a soft voice when to turn and in how many feet. The perfect solution to the wife's nagging voice when you make a wrong turn right? Hehehehe, no. First of all, you have to decide on where you are going, and take 10 minutes to enter it into this little gadget. Is it a favorite place? is it an attraction? TOO many choices!! Then you have the option of entering the address and say..GO!, that takes another 10 minutes to enter in and then wait for this little TV screen to calculate your route. Once you have that 20 minute step is completed, it's time to pull out of the drive way.

Now some of us like to listen to music as we drive....and wouldn't you know it, you miss an important turn because you were be bopping away. You quickly turn down the music...."honey, did you hear that last direction?", of course she didn't, she is happy she doesn't have to tell you where to go anymore, and is now annoyed that her nap has been interrupted. Taking down the TV like gizmo, it's time to start pushing more buttons, or listen to Ms. Happy Navigator voice tell you to "U-Turn if possible" in the middle of an interstate. So instead of being told by your significant other that you're doing it wrong, you now have a computer telling you the same thing.

Seems like technology has not made any more advancement in the saving of marriages/relationships over driving directions. Human, computer or the good old trusty map, we'll always be lost at some point and end up testing our marriages/relationships to the max. At least I can text message my best friend and tell her we'll be a little late.