Rodney M Bliss

You Say That Like It’s A Good Thing

We’ll meet you at the church. What’s the address?

It’s on the corner of Grove Creek Blvd and 700 East.

My GPS says that’s not a valid address.

It’s not an address, it’s an intersection. I don’t know the address. Just look it up on a map.

I don’t have a map.

There’s one on your phone. Did you forget how to read a map?

My mother was in town last weekend for my son’s ordination and granddaughter’s blessing. (Growing Old In A Digital World.) She and my stepfather have been traveling around the world for the past several years spending their children’s inheritances and having a great time. But they’ve become those people you hear about. The ones who end up driving down a snow covered logging road in Canada because the GPS said to turn right.

I love maps. I always have. I like the idea that they represent places, but I also like the workmanship that goes into a good map. I enjoy the amount of data that can be packed into what is essentially a picture.

And there’s something about finding your way with a map, and your car’s compass that is a feeling of accomplishment. (Yes, I recognize the irony in that statement.)

I don’t hate the GPS. But, as a man, I’m not wild about someone telling me

Turn here.

No you missed it!

Recalculating

Turn left in 200 yards.

Admit it, if your best friend was sitting next to you and talking to you like that you’d tell him WOULD YOU SHUT UP!

It’s supposed to be the older generation that is afraid of technology and the younger generation that is pushing the envelope. I apparently missed that memo, as did my parents, aged 69 and “older than 69.” I was talking to my step father about it after they arrived at the church.

You couldn’t just look at a map?

We drove 7200 miles on our cross country trip last year and never looked at a map one time.

You say that like it’s a good thing.

Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife and thirteen children.

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