By: Melissa Boyd (Whetstone Staff Writer)

“Recalculating!” the lady yells through your handheld or installed GPS. I’ve got to admit that it sounds weird saying a robotic voice can give attitude, or sound irritated. But trust me, it can.

I’m horrible with directions; my mind lasts about 10 seconds listening to someone trying to explain the best route to go to my destination. For my high school graduation gift, I asked for a GPS. Of course, my mom said yes so I can “find my way home,” even though my parent’s house is only 45 minutes up Route 13.

So, I get the GPS. The first place I use it for: going to the dentist in Wilmington from Newark. The lady’s voice is fine, the whole time, all the way up 95 – until the exit. I know – the most crucial part! Fifteen minutes before the exit is supposed to be here, the lady’s voice tells me that my exit is to my immediate right. Yeah: there’s a rail there, so I’m not turning. But, instead of yelling “recalculating” in that nasally voice of hers, she just keeps going. “Right in two miles, then slight left,” she tells me even though I never took the exit. Finally, I get off at the right exit, and I’m trying to go by these directions that are ten steps ahead of where I am. Yeah, not good.

Another example – I’m going to Rehoboth Beach. Not too bad, really, just head down Route 13 again. So, I’m fine, really, and it’s not yelling at me at all. But then, we get to the parking area, and it’s mad because apparently I’m driving in the ocean. Really, I thought I was on Delaware Avenue.

The most recent time, though, was the best. I was driving home from Chesapeake or Annapolis – somewhere around there, and the GPS tells me to go on the Bay Bridge. Now, there is technically two of the same exact bridge and they lead to the same place. Of course, though, my GPS wants to yell at me for not getting on the right bridge. It’s the first time I ever drove over the bridge myself (with the exception of my dog, Trixie). The entire time I’m driving over the bridge, in the darkness, it’s yelling at me to get on the other bridge. “Recalculating, please follow the highlighted route. Recalculating, please follow the highlighted route,” it repeats over and over again to me obnoxiously. Yeah, because I can fly my car over the water and get onto the other bridge.

So, I must say – GPS (which is oddly always a woman’s voice in my experience) is quite irritating, and her attitude is not appreciated!