They tell us where we are, where other things are and you can use a map to plot a route between two places. All of us have mental maps of areas around us, our home, the neighborhood, and way to the important places like the bank, gas station, pizza place, Starbucks … These mental maps are formed as we engage in our daily travels doing our daily business. Without them we’d be lost and would never get our pizzas.
I lived in the same city for 60 years and my mental map of that city and surrounding areas is quite detailed. Not only can I tell you what is on a street corner or how to get to one of eight different Starbucks locations, but I can also tell you what was there before it was a Starbucks. In some cases I can give you a list of the last five things that were in that location.
Often I’ll give directions that could be the bases for a nice joke, “Go to Campbell Ave and turn into the parking lot where Togo’s use to be, not where they currently are. You know the one next to the cherry orchard where they built those apartments where Bill use to live.”
You’d be surprised how many of my friends and family would know exactly where that is and the fact that it is now a Thai restaurant.
One of the realities of moving to a new city is that my mental map is basically blank. I know how to get to our daughter’s homes and the gas station near the interstate but after that – no clue. So I’ve been relying on that new fangled wonder in my fancy new car: Apple Car Play and Maps (the builtin GPS system).
It’s so cool. Just press a button on the steering wheel and ask for directions to where ever you want to go. Then the nice computerized voice directs you where there. I’ve found grocery stores, Home Depot, gas stations, the pet store, the bank and four different Starbucks.
When I first arrived I’d also use the miracle of technology to get home. These days I mostly know where the house is, but from time to time I still manage to make a wrong turn and end up driving past houses I don’t recognize. It’s a bit embarrassing – especially with Heather in the car and she starts asking, “Where are you going?”
Slowly my mental map of this city is starting to form in my brain and I haven’t got lost coming home in two weeks. We’ve also had time to try a number of different places for shopping and dining so the number of places I don’t need GPS to get to is growing. This list includes two grocery stores, three Starbucks, a bookstore, the car dealer, two Home Depots, a PetSmart and my doctor’s office.
Yes, I did manage to get registered with a local doctor. Now I just need a dentist, eye doctor, and to figure out where the Nevada DMV is. Well, my appointment with the DMV isn’t until December (thanks Covid) so I’ve got time to work that out.
Without this GPS thing, the whole process of learning where stuff is in a new city would be harder. Remember the old days of paper maps? In my early career I was a field service technician and drove all over the Bay Area trying to find my clients. I had a back seat full of maps and the famous Thomas Guides (remember those). There were a lot of times I ended up parked on a street trying to figure out where I was and where I was going.
These days, no problem. Just get in the car, plugin the phone, and start CarPlay and speak the magic words, “Directions to Safeway.” Then the friendly and sometimes annoying voice starts giving directions. “In one mile turn left.”
Now it’s not all fun and games with this device. Sometimes it wants to take me to the Safeway in Carson City instead of Reno and from time to time it sends me on the wackiest routes. It also has a habit of not being that precise on when to turn. I’ve had it tell me to turn right when there is no street to the right and I’ve also had it say “Turn left” right in the middle of the intersection. On rare occasion it just goes completely out to lunch and stops directing altogether.
The most annoying thing it does is when you say where you’re going, it displays a map and then says, “Proceed to the route.”
If I knew where the damn route was I wouldn’t need you, you annoying piece of technology. Generally in these cases I just get on a random street and it starts working.
The voice can be somewhat impatient too. On many a left turn, I come to a red light and the thing says, “Turn left.” Um, excuse me, can we wait till the light turns green?
And then there’s times when it says, “Proceed north.” Sadly I don’t carry a compass and getting out the car to figure out where the sun is, just isn’t an option in some cases.
Sometimes I just like to annoy the little voice in the dashboard so I’ll make wrong turns on purpose and enjoy listening to it panic, “Make a u-turn.”
But I just wish it would stop complaining about me driving through a Starbucks. Okay, I told the little voice I was going to HomeDepot, but there was a Starbucks drive-thru on the way. It started complaining as soon as I got into line to place my order.
“Proceed to the route.” Not without my latte I won’t …
Andrew's View of the Week 
When we were driving in St. John’s, Newfoundland, our GPS just about had a nervous breakdown. The terrain is so steep there that in many places there are three roads going to six different places layered one on top of the other on a hillside. Helpful hint: When there’s a 1,000 foot dropoff on the right, don’t listen when the GPS says, “Turn right”. I’d like to think the GPS was honestly mistaken, not trying to murder us. 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
I always look before I do what the GPS says. and it could be out to get you – you never know …
LikeLiked by 1 person
I get “recalculating” a lot when I dont follow the instructions, can almost hear “you idiot” too
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, it can be a bit judgemental … 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
I knew Phoenix like the back of my hand, but it’s embarrassing how turned around I can get in some of these small towns. I feel pretty good now that after two years, I can find my way to the grocery store. 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Food is a top priority for me too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for the laughs, Andrew. That voice can be both helpful and annoying, for sure. I’m glad you’re finding your way around. By the way, my husband still loves maps, just like his dad who is still plugging along at the young age of 97! We have a little bit of new technology in our lives, but haven’t quite let go of some of the old. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love maps too, but the GPS is quick and easy for finding the closest Starbucks … 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha! I understand! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m still a map reader — I know, I’m a dinosaur, oh well — because that lady GPS voice annoys the heck out of me when she constantly badgers us with “proceed to the route.” I kind of had forgotten about those Thomas Guides – my hubby was a sales rep for a national company for way too many years. His territory was large (no flying, just driving), so his company car was full of Thomas Guides. All of those years honed his direction sense I think because he’s still better at figuring out how to get somewhere new without a map than I am.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I do find GPS both annoying and useful, but I do prefer just going places with out it.
LikeLike
We lived in England for two years in the days before GPS. I spent so much time reading maps that we would often get to where we were going and I’d realize that I hadn’t seen much of the scenery. (England has very few straight roads and the decision of whether to turn right or left comes up every few miles, it seems.)
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve been in England a number of times with family driving me around. I could never figure out how they managed to navigate without getting lost all the time.
LikeLike
This was a “highway” that my GPS routed me down in northern France. At one point, the tall grass was hitting the mirrors on both sides of the car. I got to my destination, so it worked.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/MkwsRhc6cQ4pLryA9
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well that is a different kind of highway.
LikeLike
There’s something immensely satisfying about discovering a new route to an old destination. Sometimes construction or absentmindedness has me off the beaten path to somewhere I go often, and then I’m forced to figure out how to get there anyway. It’s kind of an adventure getting back on track without GPS. Loved the final comment about Starbucks, and it’s so true: GPS software can’t handle spur-of-the-moment decisions where you’re not technically leaving the blue line.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I do like to just wonder around sometimes, but when you need a latte NOW, the GPS comes and we’re off. Sometimes I tell my GPS, “It’s okay, I’ll get there eventually, chill.”
LikeLike
We like to see how many times we can get our GPS to says “Re-calculating”! It never seems to lose patience with us, no matter how many times we detour or take a wrong turn!
LikeLiked by 2 people
It’s fun to see what it does when we humans don’t follow it.
LikeLike
When I moved here 35 years ago, I did that, too. Now, I don’t mind getting lost because it means I explore the area.
Interesting tidbit: Primitive (I use that word denotatively) tribes can follow detailed and endless directions to wherever they are going and never get lost. Safaris discovered that. Pretty cool.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I was reading about the settlers who moved into the West and they didn’t use detailed maps. They just had descriptions of the route and very rough maps and they made it all the way without GPS.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That is interesting. those folks needed excellent memories. Something that gets worse for me by the day.
LikeLiked by 1 person
They needed really good memories.
LikeLike
GPS is possibly my favorite new technology. It works flawlessly on my Android phone — which I rarely use for phone calls.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I do use mine more for GPS than for phone calls.
LikeLike