All right, I really just have one question. I know I'm gonna take a lot
of heat for this; I have before. But I really don't want some long
discussion. I just want to know one thing. Does *anyone* here know how
many persons are killed accidentally by electrocution, annually, in the
U.S.?

If so, can you now subtract the number who are killed by high tension
lines or other high voltages (let's say over 240 volts AC) in an
industrial setting? I did read somewhere that 86% of "electrocution
injuries" (uh, electrocution means death, so I guess they meant electric
shock injuries) are to children aged one to four. So lets leave them
out, too, because we aren't letting our children repair our televisions,
are we?

The thing is, I know safety is a good thing, and I know that it's fine
to caution people about working with and using electricity safely. But,
and here's where I need to swear I'm not a troll, this whole safety
thing, and the dangers of electricity, are exaggerated. Greatly. I think.

Let's see, I've been shocked by 120 VAC about twenty times. By 240 VAC
about twice. By 30,000 volts in televisions about ten times. By a nice
big fat 450 VDC capacitor bank in the big tube amplifiers we used to
build, about five or six times.

Of those, the amps were the worst. Knocked me clear across the room
every time, cussing and sweating.

All right, I'm careless, and a perfect example of why you ought to be
careful. But I'm not dead.

I brought this up once before, a few years back, and took a bunch of
nonsense from people telling stories about people turning into charcoal.
But none of those anecdotes were about people puttering around at home,
sticking forks into toasters and fingers into televisions and breaking
off ground plugs because they can't find the damn adapter, which they
wouldn't have grounded to the screw anyway. They were all stories about
crane operators hitting overhead lines and maintenance guys poking into
the 480 volt mains with big screwdrivers.

Killed. Dead. By electrocution. At home, or in a non-heavy industry
workplace. Annually. In the U.S. Not counting babies. Does anyone know?