There has been some pretty terrible man-made tragedies in recent times. We have had mass shootings, stabbings, and people getting run over purposely that has gained national attention all within the last year. With all these events happening so rapidly, there is a portion of Americans that is becoming scared of highly populated places.

Attacks like the Las Vegas shooting and the truck attack in New York are still fresh in our minds. In one instance, over 50 people were killed because of a man with automatic weapons. In the other, a terrorist drove through a group of pedestrians and cyclists. These events are no doubt terrifying and horrific, and it is pretty understandable that some people would not want to go into the world if this is the kind of stuff it is offering.

Of course, statistically speaking, being in the middle of a mass shooting or some other sort of tragedy is very unlikely. Since 1966, there has only been 39 mass shootings in the U.S and 869 people have perished from them. That sound like a high number but it only amounts to roughly 17 people per year. The likelihood of being one of those 17 out of the 321.1 million people in the U.S is very low.

Despite this fact, people are still scared. The world has always been a crazy and terrifying place and now it seems like it more than ever, but we cannot let it be a hindrance to living our lives. Especially in the case of terror attacks, we should not change because of them, lest we give them a victory. That being said, we should be more careful, or at the very least, vigilant by doing things like making note of emergency exits or other ways to quickly exit an area. Be sure to keep an eye out for suspicious individuals like people who seem to purposely leave bags places.