Adventures with Lola, the GPS

Anyone who knows me, knows I am directionally challenged. My family jokes that my sister got all of the navigational genes in the family. So much so, that we joke that she is Sacagawea and I am Lewis and Clark. 

My lack of navigational skills is the reason I hate driving. 

I am always the person who recommends carpooling because I will get lost if I am left to my own devices. Because my devices are so terrible, my dad purchased me a GPS navigation system for my birthday last month. 

While I often use it for navigating to interviews and local places (because I really am that bad at directions), my first time using it for a long haul was this past weekend when I went to visit my sister in St. Louis. 

My sister is a travel nurse who is currently on placement there. Her birthday was last Friday, so I travelled to Missouri to help her celebrate. 

My GPS, affectionately named Lola, after the navigation system from the movie “RV,” safely got me to St. Louis. 

In fact, Lola was pretty spot on helping me navigate the city to pick up my sister’s cake. When you are following Lola’s directions the voice sounds happy like ‘We are going on an adventure!’, but if you miss one turn, she turns into Madea. 

While travelling back to my sister’s apartment from retrieving the cake, I encountered a road block because of construction. Traffic went down to one lane and became a one-way street. Lola told me to “Take the next right”, but the orange cones in the way said “Not today!”

I passed the “next right” and hoped that Lola would recalculate fast enough to help me find a detour to the apartment. 

After several minutes of the silent treatment, Lola decided to talk to me again. 

I know that GPS systems are electronic voices, but I could have sworn Madea had taken control. Lola’s tone shifted from ‘We are going on an adventure’ to ‘Listen, heifer. I gave you instructions that you elected to ignore, so now we are going to do this the hard way.’ 

Being directionally challenged meant I was left to Lola’s mercy. She did eventually get me back to the apartment, but it took much longer than I had originally anticipated. 

The next time I got into the truck, Lola seemed to have moved on, that was until I missed another turn. 

The reason I tell you the silly story about my adventures with Lola is to segue into a conversation about COVID-19. 

Travelling was and still is one of my favorite pastimes. Having been lucky enough to travel to just under a dozen countries, most states east of the Mississippi and a few to the west, I have spent my fair share of time gallivanting across the world, as my sister would say. 

COVID-19 has essentially ended the days of carefree travel. 

To go see my sister took weeks of travel preparations. We made reservations for the three activities we did – one of which was eating at a restaurant. Having been there for several months, she made reservations during the ‘off hours’ so that we could avoid large crowds and effectively social distance. 

We wore our masks everywhere we went, both inside and outdoors. 

While my sister and I went out of our way to take the extra precautions relating to the virus, many of the people we encountered or saw did not take the simple precaution of wearing a mask. 

I would like to say that those who did not take precautions were limited to people in St. Louis, but the truth is they are everywhere. From Whitley County to St. Louis, I encountered people who did not follow simple recommendations to avoid spreading the virus. 

Is wearing a mask uncomfortable? Yes. Does it take a bit more work to social distance? Yes. 

Are doing these things potentially going to lower the number of COVID cases? Yes. 

I am trying to do my part to stop the spread of COVID by wearing a mask and social distancing. Will you join me?