For this week’s Friday Confession, I’m admitting to a trait often attributed to women. I have no sense of direction.
Some people picture driving directions as an aerial view or a map. They see a line snaking from point A to point B. I on the other hand stand firmly at point A, seeing only as far as the first fork in the road. And I only know what to do next once I get to that fork. I’ve recently discovered that half of the routes that I use for driving through DC are completely inefficient. They meander around obvious cut-throughs and are often selected for their scenic views rather than actual convenience.
This suited me when I was a teenager with all the time in the world to get from point A to point B. Even on a school day, a late pass was always available. And missing homeroom wasn’t a major loss since I had little interest in student council announcements and morning prayers. So my guess is that my formative years as a new driver greatly contributed to this deficiency.
As a result, I never really got the hang of being able to identify the direction of anything “as the crow flies.” If I’m asked to point toward the nearby Starbucks from my front steps, I will most likely point to the road that takes me out of my immediate neighborhood. Meanwhile, that Starbucks may be in a neighborhood directly behind me. And it should come as no surprise that I’m incapable of locating the direction of North or South.
This can pose a bit of a problem for me when I emerge from a Metro station downtown. I don’t usually drive into the city since parking is often hard to find and the parking lots are outrageously expensive. If I’m going somewhere new, I’m usually faced with the dilemma of which direction to take once I am above ground. More often than not, I will take the wrong one and only realize my error once I’m a full city block away, and can see that the numbers or letters of the street signs are going down as opposed to up.
At that point, all you can really do is turn around and walk back in the correct direction. BUT having grown up in the city, I have a horror of looking like I don’t know where I’m going. That is like an invitation to the creepy guy on the corner to steal my purse or stick his hand up my skirt (both of which have happened to me before). So instead of taking the logical time saving approach, I usually keep going as if this was what I had planned all along, and either cross the street before turning back or just walk around the block.
And if I’m really lost and find that I have to turn around AGAIN (which has also happened to me before….many times), I may end up adding an extra mile of walking to my trip. I don’t know if I’ll ever shake this habit. Even if I found myself in a Maybury-like small town holding a giant aerosol can labeled “mace” in front of me, I’d still worry about appearing vulnerable to predators. No – I’d prefer to appear deranged rather than confused.
So if I’m ever running late for a meeting or lunch date with you – don’t worry. I didn’t forget. I wasn’t in an accident. I didn’t confuse the time or place. I’m probably just taking the scenic route or charging purposefully around in circles.
Kate-I understand you 100%. It is a weekly thing for me to call Betsy and ask directions to a place that I have been 100 times. And, I also have lived in the same area my entire life. I try and stress the importance of Betsy answereing my phone calls at work. I means-she is my GPS.
oops-i really do know how to spell answering
Right there with you! My family has suggested they all chip in for a navigational system for me, but it will tell me to turn left and I’ll just end up turning right!
IM with you. I get lost entering my own house
I feel your pain. It used to be fun to explore every nook and crany of every single back road. Now it’s totally frustrating with kids in toe and deadlines to meet.
Georgia roads are awful – no grid, just twists and turns. Thankfully, I have a good friend here whose husband is a road genius – he’s an engineer for Ga Power and used to work the field… I have his cell # programmed into my phone for my little emergencies.=)
I’m terrible at direction and reading maps…thankfully my husband is a big map lover!
GPS baby, GPS
But think of all the extra exercise you are getting! Not something to sneeze at.
I think my husband was born with an internal GPS system, meanwhile I
can get lost just taking a walk in my neighborhood. I went to DC once and thought I was going to have a panic attack! Thank goodness I didn’t have to drive, otherwise I would of been lost forever and probably died of starvation because I wouldn’t of been able to figure out how to get off the freeway.
I love what madge says “GPS baby, GPS”. Funny.
I feel your pain, and GPS makes me car sick.
signed,
your terminally lost bloggy friend
I could have written this post. I am the WORST with directions. We just recently got GPS in our car, and it has saved me hundreds of hours. I highly recommend it. Of course, it won’t really help you when you’re walking.
I hear you… It took me years to figure out directions and just like you I refuse to look lost. If I ride in a car as a passanger I pay no attention to where we are going. I would be in serious trouble if I had to get myself back.
I get lost all the time so, I am in touch with that emotion:-)
Thanks for visiting my site this weekend:-) I hope to see you back soon:-)
i’m am so with you getting out of a metro station or subway….but i’m too naive and gullable to continue going the wrong way for fear of preditors…i actually think that i will look “uncool” if i suddenly turn around because you know everyone that is watching me is rating me on a coolness scale…so i’ll either make a long u-turn around the block or fake like i forgot something by looking in my purse or looking at my watch and flailing my arms and saying “oh shit” or something dramatic like that….ok i said it, it’s out there….and now i’m offically a dork!