I was responding to the “a GFI in every outlet” as being literally, every outlet. You obviously worried to some extent to have replaced them all.
I suspect you have not used GFIs in a home or apartment setting.
Fact 1: The apartment had
two-wire outlets dating to the early 1960s which meant I could not attach
3-wire plugs without using those awful three-wire to two-wire adapters, which are unsafe and violate code, particularly for air conditioners. Of which I have two.
Fact 2: Each outlet was not only some ancient and crappy bakelite-like plastic, it had oxidized contacts, and was, as a bonus, slathered in enough lead paint on them to look like bulges on the wall instead of outlets. Plugs did not properly fit into them.
Fact 3: The copper wire itself was oxidized (nearly fifty years old) and had to be cleaned to ensure low-resistance contacts with the new outlets.
Fact 4: While some outlets were in a room were daisy chained, others were fed from different rooms. It was wired by some crackhead, and approved by a bribed building inspector, which was pretty much standard for NYC in those days.
Fact 5: If one daisy-chains regular outlets and GFIs and one fires, one must hunt down which GFI tripped. If each outlet is a GFI no such search is required.
THEREFORE, I was changing all outlets from 2-wire outlets to three-wire ones, AND using GFIs for safety.
As long as I was upgrading every single outlet, I did the job right as the incremental cost for the GFI was trivial. Particularly compared to my time. Hence the full conversion. That way even if the breaker panel was rewired—as it was when I switched from fuses to breakers—the protection is maintained even if the wiring changed.
I correctly spec and review jobs, which is why I am often asked tor review contracting jobs. I'm not one of those bozo boys who does half-assed electrical wiring, burns down a house, and gets hit with a manslaughter conviction. You do what you want in your home, but you should not criticize my following both the electric code and generally accepted industry practices. The incremental cost is trivial for correctly doing the job, particularly compared to the labor cost.
By sniping at me you are not being more sophisticated or showing off your macho recklessness, you're just showing that you prefer to cut corners because you don't believe that GFIs matter. Well, some people believe in flat earth or that Elvis is living in Topeka. Whatever, dude. This is why both health and life insurance exist.
I note that the electrical code first required GFIs for kitchens and bathrooms, and then for everything else. Varies state by state, but it is moving in the direction of full coverage.
My car has five airbags and is one of the safest in its class. I know people who've been injured in accidents (hit while stopped at a light, can't get less at fault than that) because the car didn't properly crumple or have an airbag in the right place. I've stopped at the scene of accidents and seen the difference. (I live in one of the most congested regions in the northeast, and people here drive like maniacs on speed and LSD, so YMMV.)
Luck has nothing to do with it. It is developing habits of safe handling of electrical equipment such as the hot chassis. It is the same as handling firearms. You are taught from the beginning to always check if a gun is loaded before working on it. And always practice proper muzzle discipline.
This is NOTHING like handling a firearm. The issue is electrical component failures or plug reversals in vacuum tube equipment.
Again, unknown shorts exist in equipment and plugs may be reversed. It is best to have a GFI. This way even if one has failed to measure the voltage to a chassis each time before use, because, really, who does that?, or is distracted the hazard is still protected against.
