Yesterday, we celebrated Lisa’s birthday and took a drive to Lake Erie for the day. We ate at Smoke on the Water, which I highly recommend. Even though the temperature was 95º at some point, by the time we ate, it was cool enough to eat outside since there was a lake breeze.
GPS? Always Yes.
Most of my driving is by myself. I’ve got my necessary setup in place. Apple Maps and Apple Watch work as a team to help me get to my destination. I don’t use audible turn by turn directions because I find them distracting. So, I depend on haptic feedback on my Apple Watch. Every time I feel that tap on my wrist, I glance at my screen and follow the cues. It’s what I need to get places.
Music Over Maps
When Lisa and I drive together, we often use her phone since she’s got Spotify playlists for every imaginable occasion, and I basically don’t bother with that kind of thing. The music is great. The navigation is not.
You’d be surprised how frequently I pass an exit without those haptic feedback cues. Yesterday, I passed an exit on the freeway. No big deal. I turned around at the next exit, and then took a left to get back on the highway. Except after starting to turn, I kept going straight toward what looked like a country road. Missed exit. Turned around. Missed entrance. Turned around again. That’s not all.
Apple Pay. Brain Delay.
I didn’t want the day to be remembered by missed turns.
That same scenario happened several more times on a simple one-hour trip, but we eventually got there. Before heading home, I stopped at a store to buy iced tea. Lisa stayed in the car. I usually use Apple Pay, but Lisa handed me her credit card since she had it handy. I left my phone in the car.
When I got to the checkout to buy my iced tea, I asked the cashier if they took Apple Pay because the terminal looked different from most. She said yes, they did. I stood there staring at the terminal and then asked, “Where do I tap it?”
After she pointed where to tap for Apple Pay, I realized I was holding Lisa’s credit card and couldn’t use Apple Pay anyway. So I swiped her credit card, only to have the terminal instruct me to insert the card into the chip reader. Those kinds of situations throw me off, and it’s challenging to reorient myself.
Once we were back in the car, I decided to use my Jeep navigation to get home because I didn’t want the day to be remembered by missed turns. I made sure the audible directions were turned on. After a few minutes of driving, a family member called Lisa to wish her Happy Birthday. We had the Jeep roof off, so it was difficult to hear a phone conversation.
During the call, my Jeep navigation kept announcing where to turn. It was louder than the phone conversation, which was already hard to hear. So I turned off the audible directions. A couple of minutes later, I missed a turn. Then another.
What’s the Point?
Life can be frustrating for a person who has a brain injury. Living with someone who does isn’t easy, either. I can’t eliminate those situations, I can only try to manage them consistently.
Sometimes I succeed. Sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I let that frustration get the best of me. Sometimes, like yesterday, I chose to be thankful I spent more time driving with Lisa on her birthday, even if I didn’t plan it that way. I had to choose joy each time I missed the turn.
You probably don’t have a brain injury, but our culture has likely overloaded your brain. I hope you can find your way home, with or without a GPS.
When you don’t, I hope you can choose joy when you miss your exit.
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