The "Woman in the Little Black Box" Story

It was an ordinary day. Actually it's 1:30 AM and we're lost in the parking lot. The story begins when we got a GPS system for the car. Always thought it would be great to have access to directions if I didn't know where I was going. I usually went to AAA before trips to have them map out the directions to where we were going. Heading to Annapolis? Get the directions from AAA and a map and I'm set. Same with trips to Alexandria, VA and St. Michaels, MD. Right after I got the directions and a map to St. Michaels I got a GPS system for the car. Easy to work. Type in the starting point and the ending point and hit "GO." Couldn't be any easier. Only thing I needed was help understanding the woman's voice. Too high a pitch for my hearing (this story takes place before I got my hearing aides). Well, we decided to use it to go to St. Michaels and see how it compared with the directions I had just received from AAA. Got as far as Galena, MD when the GPS told me to stay on Rt. 213S while the map from AAA told me to head to the east to pick up another highway. I chose the map's directions, and Carol said, "How can that be right when the GPS said the other way?" Shortly the GPS told me to turn around since I missed the correct turn. I knew I was on the right road since we had traveled it before, so I did the only thing I could do. I turned off the GPS! "Why'd you buy it if you didn't want to listen to it?" Carol said. I had no answer. Silence for a few minutes as I drove on. We reached St. Michaels and had a great time and I tried the GPS on the way home. Traffic was terrible and when I got to the route I had taken on the way down I turned even though the GPS told me otherwise. Silence again. Well, it was time to travel to the Baltimore airport for a trip to the Caribbean. We usually leave from Philadelphia and I'm not familiar with the Baltimore route so I got out the GPS and "Viola," it got us right to the parking lot where we had made reservations. Carol did the listening and repeating and I did the driving. Had a great trip and arrived back in Baltimore a little after midnight. After getting our luggage we found the shuttle to the parking lot. Loaded the luggage in the car, set the GPS and headed for the exit. After paying the fee we started to follow the directions to get us back on the beltway around Washington. Carol was relaying the turns and route numbers to me from the female voice on the GPS. Then Tad, our son called on the cell phone. He works the night shift and was calling to make sure we got back safely. And then ..... I started to make a few wrong turns and ended up in a large parking lot. Couldn't figure out how to get out of it. I stopped the car, told Carol to finish the call, and help me with the GPS. Took a few more turns and we were back in business. I need to figure out how to get a male with a lower pitched voice to give me the directions on the GPS. Haven't used it since our parking lot experience, but I'm sure we will have many more interesting driving memories with the use of the Global Positioning System. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.