Safe and Secure?

On my walk yesterday around our neighborhood here in Atlanta, I saw these four home-security signs, one of which is ours. And I was wondering how secure they really make us feel?

One night a couple years ago our house alarm went off while we were asleep and scared the living daylights out of us. From the code on our upstairs monitor, we could tell it wasn't an outside break-in. So then who the heck was in our house and how did they get in!!! We have no cats or dogs or anything big enough that could be moving. We were frozen with fear! So we called the police. And while we were waiting, the alarm eventually turned off and then, horrors, went on again. WHO WAS IN OUR FRIGGIN' HOUSE!

When the very nice police lady arrived and had an immediate straight-ahead view into our kitchen area, she started smiling. That day was the day after Valentine's Day when I was at the grocery store and had picked up a free left-over helium balloon. I like balloons and I like free! And Nicholas would enjoy it. Without thinking, I had tied it to a kitchen chair under the hot-air vent and in direct line to the security sensor. So guess what started swaying ever so gently when the furnace kicked back on in the night!

Sometimes I'm actually more fearful of the alarm itself and accidentally setting it off than of any imagined intruder that's possibly out there. Is there not something wrong with this picture when WE are our own worst security system?!

And whatever happened to FEARLESSNESS!