My niece had a cheer competition in Kansas and myself, my sister, my mom and nephew, Jake, drove down separate from the cheer group.   It was about a 9 hour drive in which I drove 8.  We had no problems on our way down.  We had our map and directions and we arrived safely to our destination.   If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s reading a map.  Stick me in the middle of the country (except in the woods) and give me a map and I will get myself home.  However, that isn’t the case for my sister and my Mom. 

After a long day Saturday of competitions we headed to the lounge for relaxation and a few drinks.  My younger sister and I decided we would be the entertainment and came up with a few cheers of our own.  We had a tough time getting our junk in our trunks off the ground but we sure tried.  Our cheers were a success and we now are on our own cheer team and have our own set of pom poms.

We got up early Sunday morning for the drive home after about 4 hours sleep.  After a few hours, I asked my Mom and sister to look at the map and find a different route to avoid construction that was going on near home.  After 2o minutes of no talking and them studying the map, I asked what route we can take.  They both said they weren’t sure.  There are plenty of expressways to get us home even if it’s a bit out of our way it’s better then sitting in traffic.  They are both silent.  I head for an exit and quickly pull in a Dairy Queen and grabbed the map.  I was not happy.

I take a look at the map and find many ways to get home.  So I start pointing out the different expressways. Here is our conversation:

Me:  “Do either of you know how to read a map?” 

Lost travelers:  “Yes”

Me:  “Well I don’t understand why you didn’t say take this road or that road which will get us home and about the same amount of time.”

Lost travelers:  “?”

Me:  “What if I wasn’t here and you had to get yourself home, you going to sit in 2 hour traffic because you can’t read a map?”

Lost travelers:  “?”

Me:  &*^&%^$&@

I get back on the expressway and head my own way with map in hand.  After an hour of silence I start talking and my sister wouldn’t answer.  My Mom says, “Girls, please don’t fight.”  My sister says “I’m not saying a word.” Pause and then she says, “And I quit the cheer team.”