Starling St

"7:00, got 30 minutes to go" I mumble as my gaze diverts from the dashboard clock back onto the road.
I pull up to the first intersection and squint through the glare of the headlights to read the nearest street sign.
     "Starling St...never heard of it. Good start" I mumble to myself again.
     Not that long to get to my destination. Well no point just sitting here, time to drive. Left turn, right turn, left turn, two more rights, a left, 2 street lights and a flying pigeon to the windshield.
     "7:12"
     I pull over and read the closest sign, trying to get my bearings.
     "Mediun St....never heard of it."
     Damn my ridiculously random navigational skills. Wait, what am I saying? I'm not lost; everything around me is just not where it's supposed to be. Undeterred by these ridiculously random streets, I keep driving. I'll bound to be somewhere if I keep moving.
     Right turn, left turn, red light, right turn, green light, straight ahead, dead-end, U-turn, green light, left turn and a flashing petrol light.
     Confident in the power of dumb luck, I pull up to the nearest street sign with certainty that it will have letters arranged in a familiar order.
     "Loest St"
     At least I know where I am now. Too bad I just don't know what Loest St is.
     I slowly redirect my eyes to the clock, hoping time would be kind enough to be a bit sluggish than it'd usually be.
     "7:32"
     I'm not late. Everyone else is just early.
     As I begin to move again on another frustratingly random detour, a pair of lights creep up into my rear view mirror. I strain my eyes through the darkness and vaguely make out the driver. Well dressed man in a suit. He looks like he's going the same place I am. But what's the chance of him actually going to where I need to be...but then again what's the chance of him NOT going to where I need to be.
     "7:35"
     Crap, no time for logic. Follow that strange man. If I get lost, I can just blame it on him.
     Right turn, right turn, green light, left turn, green light, straight ahead, red light, left turn, right turn and a brake light.
     The strange man I'm stalking pulls up to a driveway and into a garage. He wasn't going somewhere, he was going home. How inconsiderate of him. I try to re-regain my bearings and read the nearest street sign.
     "Starling St"
     WTF!!!???
     In my frustration, I grab the club lock and start bashing the steering wheel. My hissy fit starts to slow down enough for me to stare back at the clock.
     "7:42"
     I should probably look for my map. Why didn't I look for it earlier? Why didn't I ask that question earlier? Why am I asking questions instead of looking for it? Why!?
     I wildly rummage through my glove box. Finally! I found my sunglasses. Been looking for them for weeks. But it doesn't help me now, it's in the pitch of night. The world is not bright enough for me to be wearing sunnies. Where's that map? I didn't lose it, it's just not where it's suppose to be..... ARRRGAUGGSAHH!!!
    "7:45"
    I'm very un-early to whatever it is I need to be, situated wherever it is I'm currently not.
    Off in the distance, I see a tall man in a hoodie. Ignoring the warnings I often hear on the news of crazy serial killers roaming the streets, I foolishly, and retardedly, wave down the potentially deadly pedestrian.
    "What do you want?" The man asks as he comes up to the window.
    I show my surprise at his straight-forwardness by spastically stringing together non-coherent noises.
    Irritated at my apparent retardation, the man lets out a frustrated grunt and starts to walk off.
    "Wait!" I shout back at him, prompting him to reluctantly walk back.
    "What?" He says, with nostrils flaring.
    Knowing I only have one chance before he walks off for good in complete annoyance, I ask the most sensible question that comes to mind.
    "Have you seen my map?"
    
   
   

Directions

Ok, I have to admit to everyone reading this right now. I am directionally impaired. If I ever say I know the way to a place, I'm lying. I'm just guessing. And if I somehow do arrive at my destination, it is all due to dumb luck and google maps. If I'm ever lost driving, screw it, I'll just buy the nearest house. Well I was lost, but now I live here. I have severely improved my predicament. (joke stolen from Mitch Hedberg)

Well I'm obviously exaggerating about my lack of directional skills. I do know how to get to places, it's just that I only know one way to get there. I can drive anywhere, as long as the starting point is my house. If I'm at destination B and need to get to destination C, i'll just drive back to my house from 'B' and make my way to 'C'. This unnecessary and, admittedly, retarded detour adds about half an hour to my trip.I could've just spent that half an hour opening the street directory and learning the new routes, but that'd just be silly.

My geography isn't so crash hot either. Being at uni, you meet alot of people from all over NSW. So naturally I ask people where they're from. But they answer with a suburb that I've never even heard of before. So the next thing I ask them is "Where's that?". And instead of telling me in terms of directions in relation to the position of Sydney, they tell me 4 surrounding suburbs that sound just like random noises to me. So at first I was unsure about 1 area, now there's another 4 that I have to google. Screw you! Just move to Liverpool and make it easier for all the questionairers!

My internship often requires me to inspect road sites. And since I'm in my council uniform, quite a few people stop and ask me for directions. One time, this lady had pulled over and asked me where the Canley Heights Shops were. I knew the area quite well from this out-of-the-way street. So I told her the directions to the shops, even adding details such as when to expect traffic lights and roundabouts. After I had confidently directed her with my spastic left-turn hand gestures, she thanked me and drove off. It wasn't until she turned the first corner did I realise that I had just given the completely wrong instructions and she was actually driving in the complete opposite direction of her destination. So if you happen to be in Whoop Whoop and you happen to see an old, tired and most likely hungry lady asking for directions to Canley Heights Shops, tell her I'm sorry.

I've also been on the recieving end of direction giving. And I blame it all on miscommunication.

Joe: Turn left, right now
Trung: What? Turn left or right?
Joe: Alright, Left.
Trung: All Right? Then a left...what?
Joe: Turn left!
Trung: Oh ok...when?
Joe: Now! You're about to drive into a tree!!

And then there's the too-late direction giving. When you're in a conversation with a passenger who's in charge of which way to go and cut-off half way through one of their a sentencesand say:
"Oh shit, you were meant to take that left. Sorry."
"That's okay. I'm not gonna do a U-turn, so you can walk home from here. Sorry."
Of course I'm only joking. I'm not that heartless. I'd offer them an umbrella. They can use it as shelter when it's raining or as a weapon when i drop them off at Canley Vale.

We sometimes need directions to guide us to what to do next. And if someone was to ask what am I suppose to do next, the most honest answer i can give is "Fucked if I know". Of course you can always try to think up the most logical or best way of moving forward, but unless you actually go ahead with it, there's no way of knowing if that's the right thing to do. Hell, how do we even know what 'right' even means. When we choose a direction, that'll just lead to another crossroad where you have to choose another direction, which will then lead you to another. It's all just one big chain reaction of choices. One wrong choice could lead to a right one, and one right choice could lead to many, many wrong ones. You're momentarily lost, then found, only to lose your way again, waiting to find it once more. All we can do is to just keep on doing what we do without being afraid to ask for a little help with direction from time to time. As for me, I just have to keep on doing what Trung Huynh would do, knowing that I'm the only one that can.

And with that, I'll end this post with some wise words from Ghandi:
Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.

Happy Typing Y'all  =)