If you know me, then you also probably know that I am perpetually, habitually and chronically lost. I am the only person I know that’s had to stop and ask for directions to get out of a parking garage. Most recently I emerged from the bathroom at the MOMA and wound up having to ask for directions back to the lobby – note, I just had come from said lobby from moments earlier.
Bearing all this in mind, stop for a moment and imagine what it’s been like for me navigating public transportation in New York City. If you’ve never actually taken the trains on your own then allow me to explain. Let’s say, for the sake of argument that you live in, oh, Kew Gardens Queens, and you need to take the F in to work. Okay, sounds easy enough right? The F stops at Union Turnpike (Kew Gardens) and also stops fairly close to work on 14th. One should be able to pop out, walk 3 blocks and enjoy a fun filled day of temping right? Hmm. Not so much – at least in my case.
See, there are some pieces to this adventure that make it oh so much more exciting then a simple debarking from a subway and emergence to a street. When you leave a subway station, like the one on 14th, you have around 6 to 10 options of where you can emerge. I mentioned this in a previous entry as far as where its best to sit on the train in relation to your stop, but it gets much more complicated than that. You see, when you trudge up those steps, blinking in the bright and beautiful New York sun you get a wonderful surprise. 6th ave is right there, glimmering and ready to be explored, but, pray tell, where is 5th? Left or right? And if you’re on 14th but need to be on 12th which way is that?? Up? down? Diagonal? There are some tricks to this, like memorizing the directions of the avenues, but even so, things get confusing.
At this point its time for our friend Murphy’s Law to march in and wave hello. If I opt to turn left, then the true location of the avenue will be right. And vice versa. And so on and so on. Each time I emerge from a train I get to walk an entire circumference of a city block, until I discover where I’m actually supposed to be. On Friday I needed to get to the credit Union on 34th and 8th ave. This, in everyone’s favorite Family Circus style, is how I finally made it.
It was around 85 degrees and muggy, I was nearing puddle status when I finally, thankfully arrived at the bank.
So, this past Sunday, I broke down and purchased an iPhone 3G with GPS, and the most beautiful user friendly interface ever.
I know, I’m probably the last one jumping on this bandwagon, and everyone’s known about the awesomeness of the iPhone for like, 10 years… well, to you naysayers I say, pish posh! I love my iPhone!
Sunday I spent the afternoon wandering around central park, and for once in my life I had no sinking feeling when I wandered off the beaten track. My phone can tell me where I am, which direction I’m facing, and how far it is to the train of my choice. With a quick application download I now also have access to all the train and bus schedules, and updated information on which trains aren’t running and which are running late.
Perhaps a die hard old school NYC purist might find all this technology blasphemous, but I say, bring on the Swedish furniture and cable television, hand me my copy of the Daily News and allow me a fresh baked black and white cookie! And if the bakery, or the Ikea is difficult to find, I’ll actually lead the way there!
Cool huh?
***disclaimer!! This is not my hand! I found this image online, I do not have old gnarled man hands!***
Since money being tied up for upcoming wedding, I could not afford to replace recently broken phone with an upgrade to the much sought-after iPhone. Therefore, kudos to you for doing so, and I expect to live vicariously through you.
Being that also, my city is all of 7 miles x 7 miles, it’s much harder to get lost. You, my dear, are in much more dire straights than I when it comes to needing directions in your city.
Albeit, you will also probably notice that there are many NYers that still don’t know their way around either. Hey, the same can be said about myself in Richmond. I barely knew anything in Oregon Hill (still never found Mama Zu), nor anywhere in Jackson Ward (unless looking for crack-cocaine or a nice afternoon drive-by.)
Oh yeah, I miss you.
I have the 8gb iphone that is the bestest thing ever, she even has a name;Podette. I dunno what I everdid w/o her. Even my friends ask about Podette- iits crazy
Glad you turned to a better robot;)
checkin in.
m*
oh, I am sending you these insane pics from *back in The Day*
I have phone envy now.