Stay out of the water... and of the roads, and the stairs, and the...

One favorite converstation that happens on the train between two of our regulars... I'll call them Nerd and High Maintence (HM for short) is about the dangers that exsist in the oceans. Everything from sharks, spiders, eels, and everything else that goes bite in the seas. Just for kicks, here are the odds of something actually happening.

In 2002, there were a grand total of 47 shark attacks on people in the U.S. Let's compare...shall we? Your odds of being attacked by a shark this year are therefore roughly 1 in 6 million.

Your odds of dying while falling down the stairs? 1 in 200,000. Better stay downstairs.

Your odds of dying of a bee, wasp, or hornet attack? 1 in 5.9 million. Higher than a shark attack. Better stay indoors.

Your odds of dying in a lightning strike? 1 in 4.3 million. Yup, more likely than a shark attack.

Odds of drowning in your bathtub? 1 in 800,000. You're gonna be pretty dirty.

Odds of being killed by a falling object? 1 in 400,000. Better not have any cabinets.

Odds of being killed by an agricultural machine? 1 in 500,000.

Odds of being killed in an automobile accident? 1 in 6,000. That's right, you're 1,000 times more likely to die this year in an automobile accident than you are to be attacked by a shark.