Complacency could get you killed.  It might not, however.  It might simply leave you completely unprepared and totally inconvenienced.

When I first realized there was a fire in the building, it was because I opened the front door -- and stood there confused as firemen with hoses marched into the building.  Apparently there were bright yellow-orange flames licking the air on the third floor.

There was a smoke alarm going off in the distance, faintly.  The building alarm -- a truly horrific wailing mechanism that is so loud no one could sleep through it -- never went off.

When my wife and I left the building, I was a little frantic.  My mind could not quite wrap around the idea that this was happening without warning.  In my haste to leave, I failed to take anything with me.  My car keys, my house keys, my wireless phone, my pocket knife, my wallet... everything was still inside.

As we stood around waiting for the firemen to contain what was in reality a small blaze in the hallway on the top floor, I had time to reflect on how stupid I'd been.  How easy would it be to keep my gear in a small tray near the front door?  Why wouldn't I be in the habit of grabbing it all before I left?

I remember hearing that smoke alarm in the distance a long time before I actually went out into the hall.  Why didn't I check it out sooner?  If I had, we might have had more warning.

My mistake was that of complacency.  I was not properly aware.  I did not take basic, reasonable precautions.  No, you can't be prepared for everything and you should not sit at home, poised on the edge of a chair, ready to bolt into action at the drop of a spoon in a kitchen several houses away.

You should not, however, ignore sights, sounds, or smells that are out of the ordinary.  It takes very little effort simply to get off your behind and check things out, then proceed accordingly.

You don't have to wander dark alleys to find danger. Sometimes it finds you, in the most mundane of guises.