As I sit in one of my favorite cafés in Zagreb, I occasionally go through my response to seeing a man pulling out a gun at the entrance. I would feign a heart attack and slide under my table. In the case he pulls out a hand grenade, I would skip the theatrics and use my table as a shield. Am I going crazy? Hardly. Croatia is crawling with poverty-stricken fighters of a bit more than a decade ago, many of whom are hiding all sorts of weapons in their homes. But this is exactly how I have behaved practically since childhood in situations I have considered dangerous. Whenever in a public place, I have a wall to my back. Also, I never leave my back exposed when I am waiting for a train or crossing a street. I know my fellow humans all too well. Surrounded by humans, I always check for potential malefactors. And I know that this is how humans have behaved since the very beginning. Our ancestors were cautious of humans much more than of animals. Even the closest kin was forever suspect. Animals are much more predictable, at least. It is the civilized tenderfoot that has forgotten the rules of the game. To his or her detriment, too.