Mildly Infuriating @lemmy.world Striker @lemmy.world 10 mo. ago

A rant about an experience I had with Google maps today.

I am currently studying in college and part of my college course dictates that I most do a work experience placement. I ended being placed in a charity shop. The first couple of days went well. Its a small little shop in a shopping center so there wasn't much for me to do. So they decided that today I'll do some work in the warehouse where they receive their goods.

They gave me the address but they forgot the bus so I ended taking a bus that stopped at a 20 minutes walk away. I got off the bus and tried to find this warehouse with the help of Google maps. It kept constantly telling me to go in different directions for the next 40 minutes. So I was walking around in 0 degrees Celsius weather is just a jumper. I eventually managed to find the correct area but it was in a big industrial park. I went searching around for 40 minutes and it turns out all they had to identify them is like a tiny wooden sign. So I finally got to my placement nearly 2 hours late. They were quite forgiving about it though since apparently that has happened to a few other before.

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33 comments

You know people used to use paper maps or just remember directions.
- Jesus.
  
  Phone is obviously giving bad directions, blindly follows them anyway.
  
  Travels wearing a jumper in lethally cold weather.
  
  Too socially broken to ask a stranger for directions.
  
  Can't figure out how to call the shop or warehouse. Or anyone?
  
  Took the wrong bus, because "they" forgot which one he needed?
  
  All of this is Google's fault. (And the warehouse for having a tiny sign.)
  
  And if I got any of that wrong, it may be because OP can't relate a simple story in proper English.
  
  How is this the warehouse's fault?! They have a sign!! This is demonstrably 100% Google's fault for not knowing the numbering system inside a private industrial park and how it maps to exact GPS coordinates. This should work infallibly every time and require absolutely no correction from the business owner or user feedback.
  
  (/s in case that wasn't abundantly obvious)
  
  Ok. I'll clear up some of them.
  
  I knew at some point so I tried sussing out and travelling in the general direction which is the best I could do in that situation.
  
  Yeah. I just wake up and forget to put on a cloth sometimes.
  
  I did eventually. But the thing is a random person on the street isn't going to know which warehouse it us unless they've been there. I asked and I only got vague directions.
  
  I called. They tried giving me directions but they had other calls to attend to so they couldn't be on the phone the whole time giving me step by step instructions especially when at the the time I called them I was at 20 minutes walk away.
  
  They didn't give me a bus. They just told me the location so I incorrectly guessed which one it was. I had Google maps open at that point I was convinced I had the right bus until it continued past a turn it was supposed to make to get to my destination. By that point it was too late so I had to get off before I went further off course.
  
  I'm mainly baggin' on you for blaming Google when there was so much more you could have done. Tell you a story that changed my life.
  
  Parents used to read a Guideposts entry every morning at breakfast. It's a non-denominational, "We believe in a god and that's all we're saying about that.", sort of magazine. All of the stories were written by readers.
  
  So this guy is talking to his buddy about being an aircraft pilot and how everything is his responsibility. Every. Thing.
  
  "Yeah, but what if an engine fails?"
  
  "That's on me. I'm responsible for inspection, maintenance and reviewing maintenance logs."
  
  "OK, ground crew gives you bad gas?"
  
  "That's me. I'm responsible for checking."
  
  "Fine! What if terrorists take over the plane?!"
  
  "It's my plane. I'm the captain. I should have seen the threat coming and acted accordingly."
  
  You see where I'm going with this. I can't think of a single bad thing that has happened to me where I could not have done something differently. Blaming externalities shifts the responsibility for your life away from you. And that makes you feel helpless, not in control, leads to depression. And that fucking sucks.
  
  I suppose one could take that attitude too far, but again, I've always found that I could have done better. Maybe a bad thing that hit me is 98.435% someone else's fault, or even totally random? Well, I've always found a way I could have avoided it. And that sort of thinking has served me well in life.
  
  LOL, sorry to go all "dad" on you. And FFS, always travel with more cloth than you think you'll need. This kinda weather could Darwin Award a person.
  
  Sorry, but what's wrong with a jumper? That's normal cold weather clothing, isn't it?

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