New Google Maps Feature Could Kill Our Favorite Excuse For Running Late
Photo by Iyas Lawrence

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New Google Maps Feature Could Kill Our Favorite Excuse For Running Late

Google is on to my "OTW" bullshit.

It happens every time. I tell some friends, "of course I'll meet you for brunch/ lunch/ dinner," and then 15 minutes before I am supposed to be sitting down and ordering a drink, I'm still in bed, groggy as hell as I try to wake up from a nap.

I look at my phone. Shit. There are like dozens of missed texts and calls. I run to the bathroom. The phone rings. It's my partner. He wants to know where I am. He doesn't sound annoyed, but I can definitely tell that he is. He's probably thinking about dumping my lazy ass. So what do I do? There is really only one thing to say in a situation like this: "I'm on the way."

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I know. I know. I'm full of shit. But look, when you live in a city where traffic is this bad, the phrase OTW can mean anything from a few minutes away to a few hours. It's seriously a lifesaver and it keeps my laziness a secret (or at least I like to think it does).

Well, those days are over. Google Maps announced a new "share trip" option last month that will allow your friends, partners, and family check you progress in real time. So now, when I say, "I'm on the way," my partner can see that blue dot still sitting in my house and immediately know that I am a terribly lazy liar who can't even wake up in time for a dinner date. Or something like that.

The damn thing can even tell people your estimated time of arrival. So I can't even lie about traffic being super congested anymore. Google tells its customers to only share their location information with people they 100 percent trust. But what if sharing my location only make people trust me less?

Maybe this will make us all live a little more honest. Or, as my friend said, maybe it's a new reason to stay faithful in a relationship—after all it can't be that hard to connect the little blue dots and catch your partner out at the bar with someone else.

But it's also pretty cool. The new Google Maps feature could help concerned families keep track of their children as they come home from school. Or let a woman share her location with friends when she is taking public transport home late at night.

So what am I going to do? I'm going to pretend I never heard of this thing at all. How else can I keep saying I'm OTW from the comfort and safety of my own bed?