It is finally cold and it is finally snowing. It’s hard to explain how this effects me. I might even dare to say, I’m perky. In fact, after going to yoga, I came to an independently owned coffee shop, drinking loose leaf tea and working on my blog. The fact that I am not disgusted by myself at how enormously pretentious this all seems just goes to show how good my mood actually is.
Another aspect that is putting me into a good mood is the fact that I have been at least 3 places today, and my car still lays dormant behind my apartment building. You might how I work Far, Far Away from where I live. The fact of the matter is there is just no good way to get There from Here, and I frequently end up in the traffic doldrums. Now I haven’t actually done the math, but I’m willing to say 23.4% of my time is spent in my car, so any day I don’t have to start my car is a GOOD day.
After work one day, I was meeting someone for dinner in a part of town that I don’t go to very often. So, true enough I asked my GPS to get me there. About half way through the trip, is the snarly hell that is the Cross Town Highway, Garmin asked me if I would like to switch to pedestrian mode. When your GPS asks you something like that on your way home from work, you really start to look at the life choices you’ve made that have lead you to where you are today.
And I decided that I have been pretty unhappy for sometime, and need to make some changes. So after a lot of careful thought and self reflection, I came to a choice on that drive home: I need to break up with Garmin.
Oh, sure, our relationship started out great. He got to know my favorite places, and where all my friends were. He even full of great ideas, able to suggest restaurants to try, always had an idea of where to go. It seemed like he really understood me, and for whatever else, I could always depend on him to get me home.
But eventually, I began to see the other sides of him. We’d go downtown, and suddenly he wouldn’t know what to do. He’d start behaving irrationally, and seem to not know where he was.
As time wears on, the little things I used to think were so endearing have really started to grate at me. I realized the way he would so jokingly keep trying to get back on the route he had chosen is not a joke at all. But it is actually a chauvinistic attempt to belittle any choice I make. After a while that environment becomes toxic..
What is worse than how he treats me is how I treat him. I become verbally abusive, calling him names and making threats. I don’t like being that person.
When it comes down to it, Garmin takes me places where I don’t want to be, in a way I don’t want to get there. I have to go through shady areas of town, or reroute from traffic into worse traffic, or wants me to turn left on a busy intersection.
Now, I’m not above admitting that sometimes I doubt Garmin, and don’t listen to him when I should have. But I can apologize. He never does when he is wrong though. It’s like he’s a machine, for Christ’s sake.
But when it comes right down to it, the magic has faded, and I just don’t respect how he makes decisions. And can you really sustain a relationship when you feel that way?
Plus, I think I am starting to have feelings for someone else. Now I’m not saying I am ready to jump into anything serious with my iPhone right away. I do need some time to heal. Just the fact that I’m thinking about another GPS means that this relationship just isn’t working, and I need to get to a healthier place.
Maybe Siri knows how to get there….