Democratic Vistas

July 14, 2010 (morning)

In Travels with Charley, Steinbeck recounts a number of episodes where he gets lost and has to ask for directions. People will usually give you direction, but there is almost always an additional message with the directions, which is usually, “How could you be so stupid to get lost around here?”

Once I hit Medford, I found Hwy 99, which I thought would take me to Hwy 199, which was supposed to go through the Redwoods.

I hit Hwy 99, but I keep driving and driving. I didn’t see a road sign for a while, so I thought I missed a turn. I went into a 7-Eleven to ask for directions.

I told the guy behind the counter that I was trying to get to Hwy 99.

He said, “You’re on it.”

I said, “I want to connect with Hwy 199 to go to the Redwoods.”

He said, “You can’t get to Hwy 199 from Hwy 99. Don’t you have a map?”

I said, “I have an atlas, and it show that 99 connects with 199.”

He said, “You can’t get to Hwy 199 from here. You have to go back to Grants Pass.”

I said, “I don’t want to go back to Grants Pass. I’ve been there three times this morning.”

He said, “Well, you’re going to have to decide what you want to do.”

I said, “Well, I don’t want to go back to Grants Pass.”

The ice cream guy restocking the freezer with Nutty Butties said, “I’d go back to Grants Pass.”

I left. I looked at my atlas and thought I found another route. About an hour later, I was back in Grants Pass. I stopped at a filling station. Two guys were outside filling up cars. (In Oregon, it’s against the law to pump your own, and no one seems to know why.) I said, “I’ve been trying to get to Hwy 199 for about three hours.”

Both guys pointed. One said, “You see those cars over there? That’s it. Go to the light and take a left.”

I probably should have gone back to that 7-Eleven and told the guy he was right. I did have to go through Grants Pass. He had manager potential.