Friday, September 4, 2009

My wife zings me, and for once I laugh last

There are some key ways that I fit the stereotypes about guys to a T, and one of them is reading maps and asking for directions. If I don't know an area I almost always arm myself with a google map, but this time I was taking my family only about 15 minutes away -- and why waste a sheet of paper for such a short trip? And if the trip takes longer than expected -- so much the better because I love to drive new places and find new routes in the car.

My wife, who doesn't share my love of exploring, is a model of sainthood on these expeditions --but I know she suffers. So recently when she came up with one of the all time great zingers, I could do nothing but practically laugh myself off the road into a tree.

As I mentioned, we're on a short 15 minute drive to my friend's house. I glance at the google map, but don't print it because I think I know right where this is and how to get to it. I do jot down a few street names in my GTD moleskin notebook, and give the list to my wife. We get to our first major turn, and I take it. My wife immediately points out that the name in my notebook does not match the street sign. I say (of course), "I'm pretty sure this is the street though. Let's check the next street sign. "

We drive a little ways, and of course the next sign matches the first one -- but I drive on having a hard time digesting this turn of events. Immediately my wife says, "Quick honey, call the county because someone has put up the wrong street signs. Someone must be told!" After laughing myself to tears for several minutes, I tell her we're going to take the next planned turn and double check that the street sign doesn't match. She accepts this arrogance in quiet amazement as I try to talk her through that this really is the only possiblity of the route as we know the other streets around there reasonably well.

So we take the turn and look at the street sign -- and it Matches what was on the list! That never happens to me -- usually when I insist on the stupid choice I immediately pay for it in some wonderfully humiliating way. But this time ... I was right.

Putting that aside, the zinger has come up countless times and provided tons of laughs -- another credit to my lovely wife. But, she now has to put up with another couple of years of new routes as I remind her about the last time I knew the route.