Monday, November 9, 2009

When in Doubt, Turn Around

I am still a little bit on my "I don't know what to write" kick. So, since I can't come up with anything terribly interesting, you are going to hear about how my compassal-sense (really don't think that is a word, much less a hyphenated word) failed me miserably.

As you are all well-aware, I have a pretty bad track record with getting lost. It really doesn't matter if I go to google maps, yahoo maps, AND mapquest to print out both forward and reverse directions, I STILL somehow manage to get lost. (Those who have ridden in the car with me while I am trying to follow aforementioned directions, probably don't find it terribly hard to believe this as they have also probably seen me YELLING at the different directional pages when I don't understand the directions.)

Anyway, as I was driving home the other night, it was PITCH BLACK outside (excuse-to-make-me-feel-better-about-myself #1). It had to have been at least midnight or 1am (actually, it was 8:30pm, but with the time change, it looked much, much later). I headed out of my friend's driveway and began on my way home. About 5 miles into the drive, it dawned on me that I probably should have hit my next turn by this point. However, I just assumed that because I couldn't really see where I was going, it just seemed like I had driven farther than I actually had. In fact, I was sure I had not read my odometer correctly when I checked the mileage (excuse-to-make-me-feel-better-about-myself #2). So, I drove on a little longer.

Finally, after I passed 3 or 4 things that I truly did not recognize, I thought that maybe I had turned the wrong direction when I left my friend's house. So, I turned around and was finally back on track (this was verified by finally coming to the road that I was actually supposed to turn on about 10 miles ago in the opposite direction).

When I came to the dead-end, I knew for certain where I was, and I made a lovely right-hand turn (truly, I easily passed the Bible test, but the Bible test is a story for another post), and drove for a good long while until I came to an incorporated area that I had never seen before. It was at that moment, that I thought to myself, "Hmm...did I take a wrong turn?" (Yes, feel free to openly mock me.)

As you might guess, I turned around and went in the other direction. About 30 minutes later, I had made it back to the "mistake" vicinity and was able to continue on. At this point, I really must admit that I didn't ACTUALLY KNOW where I was, I was just guessing that if the direction I had been going was wrong, then the other direction stood a good chance of being right.

Now, I know you are wondering why I did not stop and ask directions or stop and call someone to help, and I have very good reasons, too. First, I couldn't stop and ask directions I was in the middle of nowhere in rural Houston, Texas (really, stop laughing...that is not nice). Secondly, I am fairly certain that anybody I could have called was asleep by this time of night because it had taken me so long to figure out that I was lost in the first place.

Never fear, I did finally make it home, and it only took me an extra hour to make it there (that is a huge improvement in Jennifer-gets-lost world).

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Did you learn to stop and ask for directions when you were a little girl and driving with your father?

MB

Brandon and Jessica Hooks said...

You should ask Santa Claus to bring you a navigation system. Then the voice lady and lead you home! LOL!

Tamra said...

Seriously, you might ought to invest in GPS. I'm suddenly much more afraid for you in daily life....

Cindy Deister said...

You know I am directionally challenged, but I say it's more fun to see new areas of town. Also, be very picky about the GPS voice - sometimes I get pretty offended by those GPS robots!