Final Rant

Not wanting to sound like I have a bee in my bonnet about Sat Navs and I promise that this is the last time I will mention them but...

A few weeks ago I had to go to Leytonstone. Not an area of London I am entirely unfamiliar with, and looking at the route on line, I was reassured to see that it was a mere 25 minutes away. Two hours later I reached my destination having been exposed to the strange end of the Lea Bridge Road and a confusing grid of one ways and no entries. As it only took me a little over 20 minutes to get home I had to conclude that my map reading skills are not as good as I like to think they are and the next time I was to travel somewhere I didn't know very well maybe I should borrow a Sat Nav.

Today the SN got me to Epping Forest in just twenty minutes. But the journey from Epping to Battersea was an absolute nightmare. I ended up being sent up and down the streets of the East End including a very busy and car unfriendly Brick Lane. And for some reason the Thames had decided to play hide and seek. Tower Bridge had disappeared altogether and I will be very surprised to see it in its usual place tomorrow as it wasn't where it should be earlier. Listening to that SN made me waste a whole hour and worse, led to a panicking, tightening feeling in my chest. Things were not as they should be and I was out of kilter. On the third journey down the same road I finally figured out why I can't use one.

I just don't trust it.

How can you trust it not to let you down, make you late or get you lost? I like to know where I am going and what I might see along the way. It is too much to ask to give up control of ones destiny to a third party. I like reassurance. I like clear guidance. I don't want to be messed around and sent on wild goose chases. I want to be able to trust that I am not going to be hopelessly lost and abandoned. With a Sat Nav you can never really trust that it wont lose a signal, it won't send you down the wrong path or it wont just give up and leave you stranded alone and miles from anywhere.

Given that I am also a misunderstander I am never going to cope with something as vague as a SN. I have little concept of distance. 100 yards, 80 yards, 1.5 of a mile - I cannot visualise any of these things. East? West? Why say such things?  Why not just be more specific? SN says 'turn left in 100 yards' and, once I work out which way is left, I make the turn only to find it is 50 yards to soon and I am in someones drive way. So misunderstanding, poor judgement and sheer panic leads to mistrust and resentment. I finally had enough when, having spotted London Bridge to my left, the SN told me to go right. It obviously had its own agenda. That was it. I cut off its lifeline.  I found my way to Battersea under my own steam which wasn't difficult because I know where Battersea is. Unlike the SN.
When they invent a SN that reassures me on route - 'you're doing really well, we will reach our destination in about 15 minutes, traffic allowing.' and gives me clear, precise directions 'do a left at the Kings Head, pass the Icelands on the right and take the next left where the Shell garage is' then I might invest in one because in my heart I quite like gadgets and I am all for progress. Until then I will use my trusty A-Z. And factor in an extra hour for my journey.