The Scariest Words I Can Ever Hear Are, "I Know a Shortcut."

This was getting somewhat lengthy for a Bon Mot so I moved the story behind it here.

Early - mid 1974: This is somewhat related to, "There is no excuse for bad parking," in that it came out of my experiences in driving automobiles. After purchasing my first car I had the opportunity to drive more often with my friends. I quickly learned that these words always required me to make sudden turns without sufficient signaling the turn or other dangerous actions and always resulted in us getting lost and taking longer to arrive our destination. At one point it found me having to drive back down what had turned into a loose soil cliff face. Think 4X4 off road competitions except I was doing this in reverse, in a 1967 Austin Cambridge: a small, British, family sedan. The cliff had become steep enough that I feared tipping over if I tried turning the car around. I very quickly learned to ignore people when they shouted, "Turn here!" just as we got to an intersection or driveway. If I don't have time to check my mirrors, I am not hitting my brakes. To this day I still dread hearing those words, "I know a shortcut," usually what it actually means is, "I was with someone who knew a shortcut and I am certain I will remember it even though I really don't remember it accurately and my confidence exceeds both my experience and memory."