Lost or Not….

So I had a momentous occasion yesterday evening. I was walking home from the metro, this takes about 30 minutes. I love to walk especially when I a by myself, I always to listen to music via my fabulous iPod. Usually I am also either reading a book or talking on the phone. Yesterday was no exception. I had my headphones on and was just getting into my book “The Know-It-All” when I looked up to cross an entrance to a parking lot. Stopped directly in front of me was a white mini van full of people. They asked me for direction to either 95 or 495.
Now for a little background on me, I have lived here for a year and a half. Directions and I are not friends in any way shape or form. I have even gotten lost multiple times less then a mile from my office. I love to walk mostly because if I walk long enough I can find a familiar area and suddenly I am not lost any more.

To be stopped on the corner of Haycock and Westmoreland and asked for directions to a freeway I have never driven was a little daunting. But after a second or two I realized I knew how to get them there. I even remembered the street names. I gave them directions. They made me repeat it a couple of times to be sure they understood before driving away. I felt very triumphant. I gave directions, and not to some touristy place on the mall, where the directions include walk past the Washington monument and the reflecting pool. I gave real directions. The urge to do a victory dance was very strong. I am thankful that I was wearing a backpack otherwise the evening rush hour would have gotten a view of my jumping up and down like a fool. I know how to get around. Maybe not perfectly but hey I can get you to a major road!!

I GAVE DIRECTIONS!!

WAHOO!!!

The fear that I had sent them to the wrong place didn’t set in until about a block later. At that point I had to make phone calls to verify the directions I had given. Just in case you were wondering, they were good instructions.

So, a moment of silence, please, for the death of a very small part of my ignorance and then break out the flat cherry coke. It’s time to celebrate. This is finally home!!