Oops...Drove into the past...

I went for a ride to see some friends sing the other day. I started driving as my GPS lead the way. Next thing I knew, I was driving down some back roads into the 80’s…It was so crazy. Why did so many people have old cars piled up in their front lawns?…1983 Dodge Omnis, Pacers, pick up trucks, mini vans…Unbelievable! Where the heck had I gone? More importantly, was I safe here? Did this little city mouse even speak the language in the backwards sticks? Well! At least I had my GPS to tell me where I was…wait…No I don’t. LOST SATELLITE RECEPTION! Crap…Now what? I kept driving deeper and deeper into the past as I practiced my southern accent in case I needed to stop and ask someone to use their toilet in their trailer. Ex-ciuse maey, Cud aye yuse yeour bathreym?…It was possible that no one would fall for it. I decided that I should proceed to the next town. Eventually it would have to come out somewhere right?…I wonder if these people have cable?…I drove a little further and then noticed house after house with huge satellite dishes on top and in the front lawns next to the broken down cars and large garages…um…Nope! No cable. My phone beeped in my ear, “no service, no service, you are so screwed!”…Oh well! I just kept going.

A few miles later, my phone had come back into cell range and a friend called me. I told him a landmark of where I was and he knew where to find me. Feeww!…He showed up a few minutes later and we drove to the club where the band was playing…which just happened to be 5 miles from a mall on the same road right off the exit of the highway I would’ve normally taken had my GPS not decided that traveling back in time would be the better route! I made it out safely and had a great day.

I guess the point my GPS was making was that sometimes the directions that are given to you that seem like the “shortest route possible”, take you to places that you don’t necessarily need to go. If you stay on target with your goals, there may be a more direct route you can take without dragging yourself to the past over and over again on the way to the present! From now on, I’m going to continue on the path that I’m on and not look for the shortest distance to where I’m going, because though quicker may seem like a good idea at the time, a person could get stuck there forever until the next passerby finds her and the two of them build an infrastructure that will allow for the future to let itself in.