A controlling since of my manager

I have a love-hate relationship with my boss. When he is in a good mood, he's fine. He is also a control freak. Sometimes, he comes across as being annoying.

My small team tends to go out for lunch on Fridays. As of late, he seems to want to join in. I don't mind. However, I tend to be the only one driving. He has a two-seater car. Ugh.

Recently, he said that he has driven 5,000 km in his car since May. I said that I'm at 6,000 km and I've had my new car since August. I said that I drive to work. He said the same thing. What he doesn't seem to remember is that I live farther from the office than he does. It's 50 km one-way for me.

On Friday, he wanted to do Korean food. That's fine. I haven't had Korean in a while. Naturally, I was driving. He first said that I hope that I knew where I was going. I said that I need passengers to keep their eyes open for a place that all of us haven't been to. I have two GPS apps on my phone.

While driving, my air pressure light went on. He heard it and questioned it. I said that it will go away, as it has been cold, and has turned off for the past two days. He basically said, "No, you don't understand," and went into a whole lecture about what to do. I was annoyed.

He then questioned the route that I was using.

"Google maps says to go down the street that we were on," he said.
"I'm' not on Google maps. We are going this way," I replied.

I can see why I don't like backseat drivers. The last time I experienced this situation was with my friend's ex-boyfriend years. In that case, I actually knew where I was going. Just chill.

The Korean restaurant was good. Unfortunately, he chose a fairly expensive restaurant. I felt bad for our intern for shelling out that much money for lunch.

Part of me wants to ban our manager from these lunches. I don't have to deal with such weird control issues. He doesn't know when to simply shut up and go with the flow.

Being late and asking for directions to the restaurant

My guy relies on a GPS, either the unit in his car or his GPS app, to get to where he needs to be. Saturday night was no exception.

He originally thought that his flight was at 17:00. Instead, he texted me, indicating that it was at 22:30. He asked if we could do dinner before my driving him to the airport. I was good with that suggestion.

He left his place and called me.

"Are you running late?" I asked him.
"Yes, a bit. I'm late guy," he explained.
"I'm nearby. I'm punctual girl," I replied, which made him chuckle in agreement.

We are opposites when it comes to directions and punctuality, which may be one reason why our relationship works. We accept each other for who we are.

We chatted as he drove over. He was only eight minutes late, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. He had an unexpected change to make, so he ended up forgetting to bring a few items, like his pyjamas and dual-SIM phone. Still, they weren't crucial items. He can always buy the former and he still has his regular cell phone that is unlocked.

My guy asked an interesting question as he drove along.

"Which exit do I take to get to the restaurant?" he asked me.
"You'd use the same exit as you would to get to work. It's the Druxy exit," I replied.
"What do I do next?" he asked me.
"When you exit off the ramp, it's Druxy. At the lights, turn left. On Druxy, you need the far left lane. Find the street on which our workplace is and turn left. At the next set of lights, turn right. Then, you should see the restaurant on your right."

He is good at listening to me. He got to the restaurant. I arrived a bit after he did.

We have never had dinner at our usual Chinese place on a Saturday night. It was busy. However, we were promptly seated and we finished dinner in an hour, just in time to drive him to the airport.

While we were eating, we chatted. He never feels uncomfortable telling me about his challenges with directions.

"I never exit off Druxy," he admitted. "I normally take the exit after that. Your method is much faster."
"Oh, I didn't know that," I replied.

I then remembered using my GPS to get to work from southwestern Ontario. It gave me the same directions as what my guy got. Everything made sense to me.

"For some reason, GPSs tend to tell you to go to the next exit and wind your way back to the office. It's not the most efficient route, but it still gets you there. Yes, use Druxy instead. See, you learned something today," I remarked.
"I always learn something from you," he said with a smile on his face. "I'm both directionally and technologically challenged."
"You're sweet that way. It's who you are," I replied.

He continued smiling at me.