I recently read a tip to avoid paying for a security system. It said to keep your car keys next to the bed and use the panic button if you need to alert people outside for help. My first thought was, "Hey, that's a pretty neat tip." Then reality hit. Who pays attention to a car alarm anymore? When I was in high school and college, they always said to use the panic button to get attention if someone was trying to abduct you at your car. That's all well and good if someone actually pays attention instead of assuming the car was bumped or someone just got too close. I remember when they first started putting alarms on cars. They were great...until they upped the sensitivity. If you got within a couple of inches of some cars, the alarm would go off. If someone drove down the street with the bass turned up to max, alarms would go off. It got irritating fast and people stopped paying attention because of all the false alarms. Have we really gotten this bad? We put security on everything, but we forget what it does to us. Eventually, we stop hearing them. Rape whistles are a nice sentiment and a good tool to stun the attacker, but no one pays attention to them. The desensitization has to stop.

I recomend gunfire. People still pay attention to that in most places.

People still pay attention to the combination of alarms and panicked cries for help. The car alarm for trespassers is more supposed to startle them and drive home the risk of being caught I thought.

This tip was specifically talking about if you suspect someone is in your house or trying to break in as a way to alert the neighbors. I have a security system. I never use it anymore because I have to replace the sensor on my front door, but I have one if I need to call for help without a phone.