Last weekend was the second time in a month that I was with people who think that turning on the GPS in their car is useful when trying to find your way around on backcountry roads in a rural area. I can’t understand why people don’t at least keep a road atlas in their cars anymore. Knowing where you are does not mean knowing exactly where you are, but what you are near to. A specific lat lon does not provide you with any context.
For example, last Sunday, my friend took a wrong turn on the way to a river put-in. Happens all the time to me, but the poor guy had to know where he was immediately! He was unable to live with the uncertainty for five minutes. So he turns on his mobile GPS and we learn exactly where we are but we still have no clue about where we need to go in order to get to our destination, which is a pull off by the side of a river, and doesn’t exactly have a street address. Luckily a local property owner sees us, comes over, and gives us directions. Not that I needed them. It was obvious to me that we needed to drive back to the unnamed fork in the road and drive north and at least TRY a different route.
I ask you, have peoples’ minds atrophied or were they simply never taught how to plan a route using a map? Can they not figure out the name of an unmarked road without a talking GPS? What fun is there in driving into a small town with a restaurant recommendation from your GPS?
I’ll never buy a GPS. Figuring out where you want to go is half the fun. Even when you’re wrong.
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