by Michelle Alexander

Created on: July 23, 2008

What is it with men and not asking for directions? Are they worried about being embarrassed in front of the all might gas station guy? Do they consider getting lost and finding there way back to be worthy of a badge of honor? Women have been asking themselves these questions for centuries. One the funniest stories I have ever heard was told by my aunt, and involves her friend and her friends compass like husband.

It all started during a weekend trip from North Carolina to South Carolina. They packed up the car that morning, hoping to get an early start and started towards their destination. This was before GPS systems and Map Quest. This was in the old days when all you had to go on was a map and your natural sense of direction.

Confident that they were on the right path, the wife decides to curl up and take a nap. An hour latter, she wakes up, stretches, and starts envisioning all the fun things they are going to do once they reach South Carolina. Another hour or so passes, and she realizes her husband is being unusually quiet. She asks him what time he thought they would arrive at their hotel. He doesn't answer. She presses, and finally she gets her husband to confess that he got off his original rout, and the exact time would be sketchy.

The immediate plan of action is obvious. Pull off the expressway and find the easiest way to get back on track. This argument goes on for another hour. The wife insists on asking for help, and her husband continues to inform her that he now knew where he was going and they would be at their destination in no time. After failing to answer what city he was actually in, his wife finally wins the argument and they exit the expressway.

While her husband hides in the car, his wife goes into the gas station with the map of South Carolina. She approaches the man behind the counter, opens the map, and asks "exactly where are we?" He looks at her as if her spaceship just crashed landed out front and informs her that "first of all, you're in Kentucky."

Let this be a warning. Those guys at the gas station are there to do more than simply turn on your gas pump and sell you candy and cigarettes. They can also help you find a specific street or city. If they are really nice, they can even tell you what state you're in.

Fortunately with the invent of the GPS, stories like these are becoming less common. Global Positioning Systems: Saving marriages (and husbands lives) since 2004.

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