Constant Vigilance?

On Livvie's birthday Rich's dad took us all out to dinner. While I was getting dressed I wondered where my license was, found it, and stuck it in my pocket. Rich asked me if I was planning to drink. I told him no, but if we were in a bad enough car accident they might need something with which to identify me. He told me I was morbid and that I thought too much.

I disagree. I think "morbid" would be assuming we were all going to die and worrying over it to the point where I couldn't enjoy myself. All I do, every time I leave the house, is slide my license into my pocket as a precaution. It's something I've always done.

When I was a small child our local police came to our school and fingerprinted us all. They sent the cards home with us for our parents to keep on hand in case of emergency. My card is in my firebox. I've carried that card around for decades, and I've let everyone I've lived with know that it exists. I don't belabor the point, I simply pull the card out of the box, say, "Just in case anything ever happens to me, this is available." Is that morbid or macabre? I really don't think so. If the police in this area do the same sort of thing I am absolutely getting my kids printed. I don't dwell on these matters daily. Sometimes, though, when I am not managing to avoid the news and a story comes up about a missing kid it flashes through my mind that my kids need printing. Then the thought is gone.

I mentioned to someone the other day that an added benefit of having tattoos is that you have very distinguishing characteristics in case something terrible happens as well. I very much doubt that most men even consider these sorts of things. I'm a woman, and one time when I was walking to the train after class at Rutgers some guy tried to grab me. He reached for my necklace as if to admire it and his other hand went for my arm. I yanked myself from him and yelled, "Asshole!" to get attention and he scurried off. Broad daylight.

I'm a big fan of "managing the situation." In pretty much all areas of life I take steps to make things easier in the long run. I really see nothing different about any of this. None of it consumes my every waking thought, simply because I have put measures in place.

Why am I bringing this up? Yesterday Rich went under the house to try to fix our heater, and he took his hunting knife with him in case he encountered snakes or critters. Smart. This morning when I got up and went outside to smoke I discovered his knife sitting on the railing at the top of the steps. Not smart. He was exhausted when he left it there, so I'm not blaming him. But flashing through my head was the fact that if someone came to the house for any nefarious purposes whatsoever, and had not thought to bring a weapon with them, we had provided one for them which could only be more obvious with balloons and a spotlight.

Is that morbid?