Who'd be a parent these days?

I nearly fainted when I heard that my 17 year old niece had walked to her babysitting job along the deserted, barely lit country cycle path in Greenock after dark last week. So last night when I saw her I asked her if she felt she was safe doing that. "Yes" she said "because I had my ipod on so I could play my music"! Eh? Apparently it made her feel safer. Didn't seem to matter that it actually made her LESS safe. The important thing was FEELING safe! I felt myself covering my ears, shutting my eyes and saying "not listening, not listening, not listening"!