Can she hear me now???

 Grandma and me at our family reunion

One of the joys of being unemployed and moving back to NC is I get to spend more time with my 83yr old grandma who's lived in the same small town she was born in all of her life. (I've mentioned her a few times on my blog before) She thinks I'm wild and I think the same about her, so when we get together it's all the way LIVE! Her wisdom is invaluable and she's very sharp with her quick witted comebacks. She's in decent health and is still in her right mind, but she is very amazed with the technological advances and innovations she's seen happen in her lifetime. She's had cable tv for a while, has a cell phone, wi-fi (my aunt got it hooked up at the house), but Grandma is still in awe whenever she gets on Skype with her grand kids, great-grand kids, and great-great grand kids who live several states away. The first time she skyped she went on for days about how they always said one day you'd be able to see and talk to somebody but she still can't believe she could see them on "the tv" (computer screen). I can only imagine how someone who was born during the depression and remembers when tv's were invented feels when they see today's technology. I mean even I think we're but a few years away from flying cars like the Jetsons and I'm a generation X-er. But nothing prepared me for the episode that took place while we were on vacation...



Grandma and me on the boardwalk at Virginia Beach

I was invited to tag along on vacation to Virginia Beach with my youngest aunt and my grandma. I figured since I wasn't working yet I might as well enjoy the liberty to travel once again. So we left Wednesday and typed in our destination to my aunt's built-in GPS, but at the advice of several relatives we decided not to go the suggest route and take some quicker back roads. After what seemed like driving all day (but it was only about an hour and half) on these two lane country roads we end up in civilization and decide to use the GPS to the rest of the way. Not only did it get us to our hotel, but we used it throughout the city to get us around. Grandma was very quiet and listened intensely to the directions from the female voice and referred to it as "she", "her" or "the lady". Often she asked "What did she say?" making sure my aunt turned and followed "her" directions.
On our second day vacation we decided to find a mall and once again "the lady" got us to our destination without issue. Since it was a mall we didn't follow the GPS to the very end of the route and my aunt began to drive around the perimeter of the mall parking lot so we could scope out the anchor stores and surrounding shops near the mall. Me and my aunt begin pointing out various stores "Oooh Dillards." "Oh an Old Navy" and grandma says excitedly while pointing "Look... there's a MAXY'S!" We look in the direction she's pointing and my aunt says with a chuckle "Mama... that's MACY'S" and we all began to laugh. (Grandma is known for not quite reading something right, so even when we correct her she laughs at herself just as much as we do.)
I start laughing even harder because she's tickled herself, but then grandma stops laughing and says shamefully "Y'all better hush that fuss before them people hear you!"
My aunt looks at me, and I look at her like "who is she talking about?" I look out the window thinking maybe there was some people in the parking lot or perhaps a car beside us. No one is near us.
So my aunt turns to her and says "Uhhh mama what people?"
Grandma says with all seriousness in a whispery voice..."The lady 'nem" and points to the GPS screen!!!
My aunt and I looked at each other and LOST IT! I mean I hollered even louder. My aunt is trying to explain to her there really isn't a lady talking to us but we can't pull it together. We're laughing so hard that once again grandma starts laughing which only makes me laugh even harder.
And the more I thought about how grandma referred to the GPS as "the lady"  and was unusually quiet the whole trip, the funnier it was and the louder I hollered!!!
Later on that evening we finally figured out why she might have been confused a little. The GPS and bluetooth work very similarly so when we call someone they can hear everyone in the car and we're thinking grandma must've thought "the lady" giving the directions could hear us too.
I don't know who the female voice is behind the Dodge GPS systems is but wherever you are in the satellite atmosphere... thank you for the directions and the best laugh I've had in a while!