One of my favorite TV spots of all time is the one the MTV used to (still does?) use in between shows: it's a CD and the sound of a chainsaw which is what you need to open one.
When attempting to open a similarly theft-proofed package the other day, I started to mentally list everything that would be SO different (or non-existent) if people simply did not steal:
Door locks. Keys. Car alarms. Padlocks. Window gates. Department store security tags.(Ever accidentally buy something where the tag hasn't been removed? Ever have that happen when it's a birthday gift that you bought on your WAY to the birthday party? Yeah, me too.) Security guards. Bike locks. Home alarm systems. Cash registers (well, ok...you'd still need to keep track of sales). Safe-deposit boxes. Vaults. Armored cars. Fort Knox. Security scanners. "Check your bag" at the entrance stores (common in NYC). Video stores with empty boxes on display.
Think about it as you go through your day. All of the extra packaging, every extra bit of energy you have to expend in life simply because people like to take things that don't belong to them. Life would be so different if we never had to think about it.
When I was in Tortola in 1981, life was like that. People just didn't steal. You could leave your stuff on the beach, go out to lunch and everything would be untouched upon your return (and by "stuff" I mean not just books, coverups and blankets... I mean cameras). I don't know if it's still that way, but all I can tell you is that life is far more relaxed when you don't have to think about being ripped off.
See what I mean?
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