T110's Second Summer of Love (And Tolerance)

The_Chieftain:   You see, this is one of those fundamental issues of culture which makes discussing such things with other cultures difficult.   in my entire extended family, cousins, grandparents, uncles, inlaws etc, not one of them has had a house catch fire. None have suffocated to death or illness. Not one of them has been in a car accident worse than a bumper scrape. My parents have, however, been burgled twice, (Ireland (hot) and Belgium (cold)) and mugged once (Saint Petersburg, that one actually made the news). Yet it is not considered paranoia to have smoke or carbon monoxide detectors, nor drive a Volvo because of its safety record and wearing a seatbelt on even the shortest trips. Why should protection against crime be any different? The events may be unlikely, but it is easily accepted that they -do- happen. One can make the counter argument that wandering around with the "knowledge" that you are safe isn't anything other than sticking your head in the sand and hoping the event doesn't happen to you because it's easier (and  less unpleasant) to ignore the possibility than deal with reality and the actions one needs to take should that reality strike.