Avoid

As I expound upon my random thought for the evening, I would like to begin by saying that I understand the difference between avoidance and prudence.

With that said, I notice that it is commonplace to avoid many things in our everyday life. This thought came to me this evening as I was riding home from a friend's house- except it was raining, and I was riding through a huge puddle completely soaking every stitch of clothing I was wearing. Complete immersed in the world around me (which happened to be water at the time), I began to think about the different things I/we avoid every day. I avoid sweating, so I stay in the air conditioning. People avoid death in a car, so we have air bags. People avoid charity, so we avoid giving money to homeless people. Foolish students avoid effort, so they cheat. Etc...
Being the proper English major, I researched the etymology of the word "avoid". According to the Oxford English Dictionary, 14 of the 16 usages are obsolete, and mention some kind of removal, void, or emptiness. Is it any wonder that in the days of complete avoidance of any kind of danger, that life would be void of life itself?

Comments

  1. Anonymous27/7/05

    obsolete...my life is obsolete without Weas

    ReplyDelete

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