Technology wins

It is May 1999 and John is lost. Again. It is the fifth time this week that he gets lost on his way to a client. As a financial advisor who meets clients at their homes or in coffee shops, John travels a lot and sees at least three clients a day. But he is not good at reading maps. Or following directions.

John is not one of those men who are too proud to ask for help, it is just that he cannot necessarily use the help he gets. When he asks for directions, he tries his best to listen carefully. “Turn left at the fuel station, then right at the corner café, right again at the coffee shop, … Blah Blah Blah…” It could have been Greek for all the benefit he gets from it. The instructions are gone as soon as he hears it. He tries to make the right noises and looks as if he understands and hopes with all his might that, when he gets into his car, he is going in the initial correct direction. It has happened numerous times that the people who guided him come running after his car, waving their arms above their heads. Then, when he stops, he has to listen to an out-of-breath person telling him he is going in the completely wrong direction. Embarrassing! He has turned a blind eye a few times and acted as if he did not see the person running after him.

So, he gives his all to at least remember the first instruction. But after that, he cannot remember what comes next. Was it right or left at the fuel station? And then? First the corner café or the coffee shop? Until he is lost again. He has gotten into the habit of giving himself at least an hour extra to get to any client. If the day comes that he finds the place relatively easily, he just sits in his car and reads a book until it is time for the appointment.

His wife and friends joke with him about this all the time, so much so that he does not even tell them anymore when he got lost. However, most of them, good friends that they are, also try to help him by giving him the latest and most advanced map books. And when they have to travel anywhere as a family, he has long ago left behind any chauvinistic notions and lets his wife navigate. Everyone has their talents and direction is just not his.

A few friends have recommended that he gets himself a Nimrag personal GPS unit for his car. But he hates computers and does not want to spend $3 000 for what he thinks is only an electronic map. If a paper map is not helping, how will an electronic one be any different?

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After a horrific afternoon, being late for an appointment despite the extra hour he gave himself, John finds himself back at home. It is already dark, and he cannot see any lights on in any of the rooms. Thinking that Joan is probably working late and the kids staying over at his parents’ house, he lets himself in through the front door.

“SURPRISE!!!”

He nearly has a heart attack. The lights come on and in front of him stands a crowd of people.

“Happy birthday!” comes from all sides.

In the humdrum of the day, he has forgotten it is his birthday. Joan said something about going out for dinner, but he forgot about that and had no inkling that she was planning a party.

Getting his breath back, John sees Joan approaching from the crowd with a rectangular wrapped parcel in her hands. “This is from all of us. We know you do not want to spend the money yourself, so we thought we would buy you one. We are sure it is going to help you. Come on, open it!”

He looks around at his friends, all waiting expectantly for him to open the parcel. Ripping off the paper, he extracts from the box what looks like a small computer. Reading the name in the corner, he realizes it is a Nimrag personal GPS device. Breaking out in a cold sweat he at first cannot find any words to say. But he regains his composure and starts going around the room thanking everyone for their contribution to his gift. He realizes it is a really expensive item to receive as a birthday gift, but he cannot get himself to be excited. How on earth is he going to figure this thing out? If he cannot even read a map from a book, how is he going to use an electronic one? He forces himself to forget the present for now and enjoy his party.

************************************************************

John opens the box with his birthday present again three weeks later, on a quiet Saturday morning. He has been getting lost just as often as before and Joan has been pestering him endlessly to try the Nimrag GPS. Taking out the thick instruction booklet, he starts to read. Why does it have to be so complicated? He cannot make head or tail of what he has to do. He starts by putting in batteries. Pressing the ‘ON’ button, the device makes a beeping noise, and the date appears on the screen. The display asks “Is this the correct date? Yes or No.” He presses the green button below the Yes. “This is not too hard,” he thinks by himself. The device takes him through similar steps to set the time and his current location. He pages through the booklet and sees he has already managed the instructions from the first few pages. ‘How to navigate to a street address’ is the first heading after setting his location. He follows the instructions, typing in the address of a client he has to go see on Monday. “Head north. In 600 yards, turn left,” a woman’s voice says from the device. He almost drops it in fright. This is definitely not just an electronic map.

Getting into his car, he uses the suction cup that came with the device and fixes it to the windscreen. “Head north. In 600 yards, turn left,” the woman’s voice says again. “Okay, okay,” John says, and starts the car. Driving off, hoping he guessed right and is going north, he heads to the stop sign 600 yards from his house. “Turn left,” the voice says. He turns left. “In 1 mile, turn right.” He drives and follows the voice’s instructions until he hears “In 800 yards, your destination will be on your left”. He did it! He drove to an unknown address without getting lost!

Maybe it is time to embrace technology? Now he will have to find a way to admit to Joan that the Nimrag is the best gift he has ever received. Fortunately, years of teasing and feeling like a fool about his inability to find a place have numbed any feelings of embarrassment. He is sure he can admit he was wrong.