A scorned wife get's her revenge....or so she thinks. On August 26th 2009, one William Taylor donned a sandwich board type sign that read "I CHEATED THIS IS MY PUNISHMENT". He stood in the morning during rush hour traffic in Tyson's Corner, VA. As he stood there he also wore a pitiful sheepish and somewhat remorseful look. Taylor told news affiliates and passerby's that his wife thought up the punishment after discovering information on his cell phone about his indiscretions.

Taylor also said he initially thought his wife was joking when she first brought it up. Then he realized that it was no laughing matter. He told a photojournalist with Fox 5 that he figured it was what he had to do to make things right, so he was doing it. Carissa DiMargo of WRC wrote on NBCWashington.com “We haven't quite decided if this is a publicity stunt for some wacky YouTube channel or a ratings-driver for a morning radio station, But if it's true, we like it. We. Are. Amused.” Taylor is supposed to spend the rest of the week modeling his sign.

But here is the question:  "Will this mockery actually deter William Taylor to refrain from cheating?"  I doubt it.  Now if she really wanted to embarrass him, she should have covered him in tar and feathers and stuck a beak on his nose AND then made him wear the sign.  But really what is the point?  Does it really make the fact that he cheated alright?  Does putting him on the street corner wearing a sign erase what he did?  Absolutely not.  What is so amusing to members of the press about this situation?  A man cheats on his wife - she makes him wear a sign in public......hhmmm.....I don't find that very amusing at all.

Here are some interesting statistic about infidelity:

• 22% of married men have strayed at least once during their marriage.
• 14% of married women have strayed at least once during their marriage.
• 70% of married women and 54% of married men had no knowledge of their spouse's infidelity.
• 90% of of Americans believe that adultery is morally wrong.
• Should adultery be a crime punished under the law?  61% of Americans say no - 35% of Americans say yes it should - 4% had no opinion.
• 17% of divorces in the US are caused by infidelity.
• Only 46% of American men actually believe that online affairs are actual adultery.
• Affairs affect one of every 2.7 couples.
• It is estimated that 53% of all people will have an affair on some level during their lifetime.

How much do you think the internet contributes to adultery?

• 8-10% of internet users become hooked on "cyber" sex.
• 75% think visiting adult web sites without their spouse is ok.
• One third of divorce litigation is caused by online affairs.
• 70% of a person's time spent online is in chat rooms or emailing.  The vast majority of these interactions are of a romantic or sexual nature.
• Due to the anonymity, the affordability factor, and accessibility of the internet, the transition from "at risk" to "addicted" is greatly accelerated.
• 57% of people have used the internet to flirt.
• 38% of people have engaged in explicit online conversations and 50% have made contact by phone with someone they have chatted with online.
• 31% of people have had an explicit online conversation that has led to real time sexual encounters.

So why do people in marriages and relationships cheat?  Research shows that affairs are as old as marriage itself.  Some people believe that humans are incapable of monogamous.  They believe that humans are not biologically engineered to mate for life.  There are others who believe in the sanctity of marriage and the values contained there.  For every person who cheats, they have strong reasons to justify why they did it.  

Affairs can have lasting and often devastating effects on the opposite spouse.  Feelings of heartbreak and abandonment are just a few of the emotions that creep up.  There are also the feelings of betrayal and a true sense of loss.  Two years ago, my best friend was the victim of an affair.  She and her husband had been married for 11 years and for 6 of those years he cheated.  She caught him a couple of times, but she believed in marriage and loving someone as her vows said "in good times and bad" and so she extended forgiveness.  She wanted to build a life with the father of her children no matter what.  But in the end all of her efforts were fruitless and she was left with a heart full of emptiness and misunderstanding.

Whether you refer to it as:

• Cheating
• Infidelity
• Affair
• Running Around
• Sneaking out

It doesn't matter, it is adultery just the same, any way you slice it.