How cool would that be?

Dad: Please don't fix your outlets on your own.

That's the fourth time since I got here-- or since I asked him for a circuit tester--that dad has warned me against taking on this endeavor.

A.: But I have friends who have done it. They say it's not that hard.
Dad: You could get electrocuted.
A.: I'm going to turn the power off at the breaker.
Dad: There could be current coming in from other sources. A., I'm an electrical engineer. I work for a company that does electricity, that repaired the region's power grids after the storms two weeks ago. We get e-mails about professional electricians that get zapped from time to time.

That got me thinking.

How cool would it be if people got a mild (maybe even medium) electrical shock for doing something for which they have no expertise? Joe the Plumber wants to write a book? ZAP!!! Half the pundits on TV wouldn't be able to get through a sentence without getting zapped. Thomas P. Barnett would be a walking electrical wire. Foreign policy analysis would be the realm of people who knew what the f* they're talking about--and even then they'd get it wrong half the time, that's just the way it works-- but that would be preferable to the free-for-all unfounded opinionfest we have now.