Let’s face it. Without direction, we’re sunk. Come to think of it, you can’t swim until you learn how, so you really are sunk. We’re born and immediately start the learning curve for language, survival and life. The need for direction doesn’t stop with age.
For instance, we take a weekend trip to visit friends. We drive to the Dallas airport (that we know how to do), but we don’t know which terminal and gate without direction. We land, but have to rely on signs at the airport to get us to baggage and to our rental car. We rely on directions from maps (paper or digital) to get us to our destination.
Problems arise, however, when we seek direction, assume it’s accurate, but receive erroneous data. This results in … you guessed it … delays and the wrong destination. Case in point: Fayetteville, Tennessee to Birmingham, Alabama. We were fine for 2 hours. The highway signs were big enough for our old eyes to see, didn’t miss an exit, A-OK. Then we asked our friend SIRI (iPhone speak) to guide us to the Birmingham Airport. Big mistake.
SIRI directed us to a road running alongside the airport, on the opposite side from the terminals. Following SIRI, we could see the airport on the other side of the fence, but moving farther away from any hope to gain entrance. SIRI led us to places no man has ever been before. Frustration set in, big time.
Eventually, we gave up and found the nearest convenience store. Apparently, the clerk had had others with the same bewildered look walk into the store, because without my asking, he immediately told me exactly how to get to the airport entrance. The right directions got us to the airport and our flight on time.
On the flight home I reflected on how many times I’ve made important life decisions based on directions I received. The bottom line is knowing Who to believe. What about you?
Tagged: friendship
