stephenAmurphy.com

Originally written: 01/12/08 (Saturday)

My GPS (global positioning system) is the best and worst thing that has ever happened to me.

As many people can attest, I am not the greatest driver in the world. And my sense of direction is, how do we put it, less than perfect. I used to spend my summers on Long Beach Island in New Jersey. This island was literally six or so blocks wide, and maybe 18 miles long with the ocean on one side and the bay on the other. It should have been the simplest place to navigate. Yet every day, every year I would somehow always get lost. Without fail, I would always go in the complete opposite direction.

So when my brother Jim bought me a GPS for Christmas to put in my car, I knew I had hit the jackpot. At first, it was everything I knew it could be and so much more.

It was amazing. It was like the internet, or cell phones, or gmail. I didn’t understand how I lived before it. On my roadtrip from LA to Stigler, I could always use my GPS to search for the nearest Best Western on route (my hotel of choice) or the closest Chipotle (Unfortunately, there aren’t many on the I-40. But I have faith they will take over this great land someday…)

But pretty soon, I began relying on it. Even worse, I became confident I knew where I was going – even when I don’t have a clue. Like today. I went to a Keota basketball doubleheader at Lakewood Christian in McAlester (about 45 miles southwest of Stigler) this afternoon, and decided to be super-productive and catch the Quinton girls’ conference championship in Leflore, Oklahoma in the evening.

Unfortunately, there is no Leflore, Oklahoma. There is a Leflore county I would learn later. But when someone at Quinton told me they were playing at Leflore, I simply assumed there was town by that name. I used google maps to outline my route before I left today. Stigler to McAlester, McAlester to Leflore, Leflore back to Stigler. Unfortunately, I failed to notice that google maps interpreted “Leflore” as Leflore Road in Fanshawe, OK.

I was confused when my GPS couldn’t find Leflore, OK but I just rolled with it. I figured I would get there by google maps, and then ask someone in the town where the high school was. Of course, I didn’t realize google maps was leading me into the wilderness. Now, I’m sure Leflore Road is probably beautiful and scenic during the day when you want to be there. But after the sun has set, and you’re going over creaky old one-lane bridges and onto rocky roads, it’s not so beautiful. In fact, it’s kind of unsettling.

I eventually realized I was not heading to a Leflore High School and that I had to get back to the highway. Unfortunately, the “road” (it had become more of a path by now) was so narrow that there was no way I could make a U-turn. Miles off the highway, I trusted my GPS to get me back to civilization.

It did. Eventually. First, it took me farther into the darkness. It kept telling me to turn onto roads that no longer existed. But eventually, it led me back home. I must say though, when I was going 15 mph on a rocky road with low visibility (a creepy misty fog had settled over the ground), I half expected a dark looming figure with a scythe to be standing in the middle of road waiting for me. Luckily, I didn’t meet my demise tonight. Hopefully, tomorrow, I’ll learn to double-check my directions and not just depend on google maps and my GPS to save me again (even if they are two wonderful products).