Do you know the way to San Jose?

I started out with some promise. I knew Fifth Avenue, Madison Avenue, Park Avenue, Lexington, all the way to 1st, and could thread my way from Azuma to FAO Schwarz, early on.  I also showed an early streak of geographic aptitude by navigating the IRT subway line — even before I could say the whole name.   (It had nothing to do with rabbits in transit…)

Then, just  as my orientation skills began receding, along came my pal Evelyn, who knew her way around even in the dark and could always find the best buttons in the Village.  And, when it came to guessing which bus stop was coming up, she always knew the right answer — even before the driver got there.

Maybe I could figure out the early chapters in the book of navigation — but Evelyn made it all the way to the last page.   And when I ran out of all my handy landmarks, her orientation skills soared.  Without Evelyn in the lead,  I was all too agile at getting lost.

It’s true — I’ve reached out for navigational supplementation almost throughout my life.  The kind that gets me places — not those convoluted compass points that just make matters worse.  What’s this  Northwest or Southeast drivel that some people like to throw in …  It’s as useless as the exact longitude and latitude –I’m not a pigeon!

I’ve never judged people by how well they master short cuts.  Why should anyone else?  There’s no Nobel Prize for Urban Navigation. Or for Practical Orientation.  And I’ve discovered along the way that I can always find a cure whenever I get lost.