Well, there's something to the psychology of preparedness that we still don't have a good handle on. What are the chances of a violent home invasion or child abduction by a stranger or rape by a stranger to them? Very low. Yet these particular events are in the forefront of many people's consciousness on a daily basis even if they live in safe La Jolla or Rancho Bernardo.

I find it amusing but dismaying, too, that a certain major security company only uses examples of violent home invasions to sell their products/services in TV commercials lately. Gee, remember when they used to be called "burglar alarms" and the commercials would show a guy in a ski mask peek his head above the window sill? The commercials dismay me since fear is used far too often to sell things or for political purposes. But, I guess it's easier to get people to act on fear than to stand up for something in a positive way, unfortunately. Preparedness should be a positive lifestyle choice, not something done out of fear but that approach doesn't seem to work too well as we see from these earthquake prep numbers.