Elsewhere
Alibi is the Latin word for elsewhere. It is used in law to indicate you couldn’t possibly have robbed that bank because you were at your Aunt Minnie’s at the time it occurred.
In everyday terms it is what we use to get us off the hook. We don’t want to tell a friend or acquaintance that we won’t do community work because “who needs the hassle?” We don’t want to say : “I don’t feel comfortable asking people for money, or decorating a hall or chairing a meeting.”
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So here to help you out are some alibis you can use.
“My aunt over in England is house-bound with a fractured femur and she writes or phones nearly every day and I have to respond.”
“My cat has mange and has to be treated every four hours for the next two weeks.”
“I have some grain on the ground and I’m afraid cattle might get into it and bloat themselves.”
“My combine was making a funny noise this fall and I want to strip it down and find the cause before putting it away for the winter.”
Your friend may know that you don’t have an aunt in England, your cat died last spring, there are no cattle within 10 miles of your grain and that you wouldn’t have a clue how to fix a computerized combine even if you did get it apart.
But neighbors are scarce and precious so your alibi is accepted.
There is the possibility that your friend will decide not to proceed and some useful and entertaining community activities will not happen.
But don’t feel guilty.
Just surf the internet for half an hour and you will have forgotten all about it.
