Gladys

Our prior extended trips were done without the help of a GPS device, but this time we decided it would be to our benefit to have one on hand. Since the soothing but disembodied female voice is to be our companion for the next three weeks and beyond, we thought it appropriate to give her a name, and quickly agreed on “Gladys”. Gladys remained quiet for most of the first day, only speaking up when we approached major intersections (John was impressed – a woman who only speaks when she has something important to say). As we approached Buffalo, however, she instructed us off of I-90 and onto a route that would take us closer to the center of the city. Skeptically, we followed her directions, but were rewarded to find that by doing so we managed to bypass a rush-hour traffic jam on I-90. Gladys had passed her first test and all was well.

By our second day, we were veterans of instructing Gladys with our day’s destination and leaving the details to her. Another relatively quiet day through Ohio and Indiana, but in mid-afternoon she somewhat unexpectedly directed us off the highway. Traffic was light, weather was fair, no road work in sight, and no major cities nearby. Still, after the prior day’s performance, we trusted Gladys to steer us on the right path. What followed was an inexplicable five mile tour of the suburban town of Huber Heights, Ohio, then a return to I-70 West. The irony was that we had talked about stopping at a supermarket to pick up a couple of forgotten items, and the detour did indeed lead us to a Kroger’s market. The eerie twist to the story is that we had never directly instructed Gladys to find us a market, which made us wonder if we really understand the extent of her powers.

The next few weeks will tell us – is Gladys really just a benign traveling aid, or does she perhaps have a dark side (ala 2001’s HAL computer)? Did Thelma and Louise meet their fate because of a sinister GPS device? Was Rod Serling’s “Talking Tina” simply an early prototype of Gladys? Perhaps we’ll understand better as the next few weeks unfold.