There’s a guy who used to work for our company then walked out about 18 months ago after an argument with the dispatcher … nothing unusual there then. After about 8 weeks of not being able to get another job I actually got him a job with our rivals in the trade. I always liked the guy and we would go to the diner after work etc, I have been trying to get him re-enstated with us but the dispatcher just won’t have it. Anyway ! as I stood watching my tank being washed out on Friday he arrived in a fluster and told me he was late because he got lost coming back to Yonkers, “how did you manage that after working at this place for a total of 3 years on both companies ?”
“My GPS thing wouldn’t accept the address for this place” he replied.
“You mean after coming here all that time you can’t get to your work without a sat nav ?”
“Well I was coming from Delaware and ended up on the Philly side of 95” he said.
Now I can understand someone who has never been there before being confused by the fact that I-95 splits coming north and the fact that you ran south on I-95 (Nj Pike) and hadn’t realised that after exit 7A in NJ it is no longer I-95 but just the Nj pike, but if you read the actual road signs it’s quite plainly visible which way you need to go to get back to NJ, you have to cross that damm bridge, it plainly says ‘NJ Turnpike’ pointing to the bridge and I-95 Philadelphia to the left. Anyway he could have just entered NYC to get to the area, to actually need the company name shows really how bad at navigation some people are. I am an immigrant and I very rarely use the satnav on my phone and if I do it’s usually when I am about 5 miles away from a new stop and not sure exactly where it is.
I almost always use my satnav, more out of habit than anything else. I just like knowing where I am, how far my next turn is and how long to destination. I dont need it, but it now feels wrong not having it there. Its always just an aid though, I always check where its sending me and would never turn down a dodgy road just because it says to do so.
The scenario you describe above is just another example of the problems associated with ‘Driving while being American’!
This guy has lived in NYC for about 30 years and if he doesn’t know his way to work by now I give up all hope. We have mostly the same group of customers with the exception of a couple of new ones now and again, I am always shocked to see drivers setting their satnavs to a customer they have been to hundreds of times. It’s amazing how many of these drivers actually ask me … an immigrant, how to get from A to B ?