Short Cuts

Yesterday, I came out of the grocery and I wanted to go to a small bookstore that is diagonally across the way on a one-way street. I was at the stop sign looking longingly at the bookstore that was right there but I could not go left on the one-way. I knew I'd have to go right and zig zag through side streets to get back to the bookstore. I considered going left and chancing it. This area has tons of cops (lots of restaurants around). I decided not to risk it. I could get a ticket or cause an accident just to save a few minutes. As I weaved through the side streets I thought about short cuts. 

Since I moved back to Tampa I had taken quite a few. I would not buy groceries and cook for myself. It made me so sad to prepare a meal for one. For at least the first year, I would get take-out or dine on my specialty--Chardonnay and Tortilla Chips. I also stayed to myself. Many of my friends worked for the same company that had laid me off (and John still worked there). I shut myself off from all but a few close friends. I was not willing to make the effort or open myself up to friends. The biggest short cut I took came to men. I thought I was so smart in my efforts to avoid being hurt (and Dear Readers this has been blogged about ad nauseam).

Sidebar: I just looked ad nauseam up to make sure I spelled it right. I found this little jewel--Seeing how often ad nauseam is misspelled makes some people want to throw up. English writers also often mistakenly half-translate the phrase as ad nausea.

This Latin phrase comes from a term in logic, the argumentum ad nauseam, in which debaters wear out the opposition by just repeating arguments until they get sick of the whole thing and give in.

I just wanted to get here!