Like many a guy, I'm reluctant to ask for directions, but like many a guy I'm pretty good at finding my way around, and on the rare occasions that I get lost, I typically get unlost quickly. Consequently, I am as one with Joel Achenbach when it comes to global positioning systems.
If you've never been physically, geographically lost, I can tell you from experience, it's a feeling you'll never forget.
ReplyDeleteAnyone who uses GPS on the job, the first rule of field work is "carry a compass and know how to use it."
A recurring theme in Oscar Wilde's stories is the ultimate failure of society's institutions to support the individual. Sometimes GPS is like that too.
John:
ReplyDeleteYou are right of course.
I have been seriously lost backpacking and averted real problems for my friends and I by having remembered my Army orienteering training and, yes, carrying a compass.
Your thought about Oscar Wilde is spot on.