Lost in Space...again and again

In addition to having no sense of time, another trait I have, which I blame on my ADD, is no sense of direction. Maybe that's because with my mind running around in tangents, I don't really pay attention to directions. Unless I have a carefully marked map, preferably from Yahoo Maps, I am lost! Verbal directions don't mean a thing to me. Oh, and don't tell me someplace is just a couple of miles down and turn west. I won't have a clue what you are talking about. I need landmarks, and turn left at the second stop light after the little old white church. My silly pride might keep me nodding my head in understanding and agreement, but my mind will be busy trying to figure out where west is, and how far away is two miles, actually. After one or two more stops for directions at a local store, gas station, or even a fire station, I might get where I was planning to go, probably late, as usual.

I should have known I was doomed to a life of ADDventure and frustration when I attempted to get my driver's license. Since I was such a bad teenage driver, I gave up, or I guess my parents gave up on me learning to drive. So, I tried again after I was married, living in Connecticut, and pregnant with my first child. In Connecticut, I had to take the written and the driving parts of the test to qualify for a license. It took me five times. I aced the written test each time, but I flunked the driving part four times, because I could not parallel park. The fourth time I took the test I was about eight or nine months pregnant, and my belly was way out, practically hugging the steering wheel. The driving examiner took one look at me, shook his head, and kindly told me to come back after the baby was born. After my son was born, I went back and aced the whole test! Finally, I had my license! At the age of 20, five years after I first started learning to drive, I was a licensed driver.

Let the adventure begin! And it did. My very first time out driving alone after I got my license, I decided to just drive to the local store. You could actually see the store from the house. But, you had to cross the freeway to get there. Did I cross it, and get off when I was supposed to? Not me, not this little ADDlepated Space Cadet! After driving 25, or was it 50 (it felt like 50 anyway) miles and over three hours later, I finally got home to find out my husband had been frantically calling the police stations and local hospitals to see if something had happened to me. That was my first of many driving ADDventures, taking the scenic route through life, and missing the shortcuts.

Remember I mentioned fire stations, for getting directions? Well, on one of my driving adventures, that actually happened to me, in Charleston, SC, as a young Navy wife. I had just taken my husband to the base to catch his bus that would take him to the plane to his overseas duty station. It was shortly after we moved there. I got lost on the way home, stopped at a couple of gas stations for directions, and finally stopped at a fire station. It was there I discovered something I didn't know about firemen: they watched Soap Operas on TV, just like me! Oh, and their directions got me home safely!