Last evening my kid was playing with the GPS in our car, and uttered some voice commands. The GPS could not comprehend his commands even after multiple repeats, so he got frustrated and said “Don’t you get it!”
This incident took me down the memory lane to the reason we now have a car with a GPS…..
Newly married, my hubby and I were driving to Las Vegas from Phoenix…actually my hubby was driving and I was the navigator. It is important to mention here that our car did not have GPS, so I was sitting with a big map book and direction print outs from the map-quest website. My hubby’s job was easy peasy as he had to follow my directions and drive, but my part of the job was more complex. I had to first decipher the direction on the map and then guide him appropriately. And we were not doing very well together as a team.
I would extend my right arm and point in the right direction , while saying “take left, left, left”, and my hubby would take a left turn. I actually wanted him to turn ‘right’, and to my support he should know that actions are louder than words. But he chose to follow my misdirecting voice commands rather than my loud and clear hand pointing directions.
I am sure you all are with me on this. Right?
Anyways, we made it to Las Vegas, but instead of six hours, it took us exhausting eight hours. It was not bad at all considering the numerous wrong exits, missed turns and stops at the gas stations to ask for the directions.
This direction mishap was not a one off case- we had a different situation to deal with when my hubby was the navigator and I the driver. I would have to wait till the last moment for him to tell me the turn I was to take, and with my driving skills I would drive pass the turn and miss it. Then again we would end up in a fight and  blame game.
One time, I was so frustrated that I stopped the car in the middle of the street. People started honking so I drove again, but with disgust that lasted the whole day.
Our first new year’s celebration after marriage was also a victim to our wonderful driver-navigator team. To celebrate the eve, we had our friends over from another state and we were to go to a New Year’s Eve Gala dance event. I dressed up in my cute black dress with make-up and all the accessories. After a lot of dressing up we sat in the car to drive to the venue. My hubby had looked up the destination on the map, and was confident about the directions.
Inside the car, the excitement was building up as we chatted and were nearing the destination (or so we thought). After more than an hour of circling and turns, reality unfolded and we found ourselves in the dark, literally as well as figuratively. It was 11:55 pm, minutes away from the mid night, so we looked for a well lit area and stopped near a building playing celebration music. We went inside to join the fun, and realized that we were an odd ball in the ‘by invitation only’ gathering. We smiled and exited the awkwardness. We hugged and wished each other in the parking lot, and drove back home.
We were all quiet during the return drive, as if someone sucked the gusto out of us. Once home, I made a basic lentil rice soup (in my cute black dress). We ate dinner with a bottle of champagne and watched an old movie. I was disenchanted to say the least, for I had spent some time to dress-up, and the eve did not turn out as anticipated.
Our amazing sense of direction had ruffled yet another day!
After few months of driving, our car met with an accident and was totaled. So, we shopped for a new car and made sure that our new purchase was equipped with a GPS system. This was the least we could do to put an end to our daily bickering, and thus save our marriage.
The first time we drove the new car was from Tucson to Phoenix—we fed the destination into the GPS, and the female voice said, “Route guidance will start now.”
It was an ‘aha moment’  for me to hear a third person providing directions. The screen showed the map, and the voice was self guiding. This was our first drive together that I can call eventless and peaceful.
I enjoyed the journey seated next to my husband who was driving. For once I could admire the outside scenery, rather than shuffling through bunch of pages with directions. I am sure my hubby was also gratified to not have to interpret the contrasting driving directions.
Having a GPS is one of the secrets to our peaceful marriage. We now have one, and can blame it for all the misdirections. If the GPS does not understand the commands, we can say “Don’t you get it!”, and it does not get mad.
Needless to say since GPS came into our lives, we have been driving and traveling happily ever after!
 
Photo credit: HikingArtist.com via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND
Photo credit: Teymur Visuals via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND
Photo credit: Wicker Paradise via Foter.com / CC BY