Burning down the house, the Swiss way.

The Swiss are not very into smoke detectors. They’re not required in residential buildings, and most rental property management companies don’t install them voluntarily. Thus Gilles and I, like a lot of others here, live without.

Well, that’s not quite exact. When, upon first arriving here two years ago, I discovered that our flat was bereft of such objects, I set out on a mission to find one (not so easy when there isn’t a Target around for miles … thousands of miles). I succeeded. It’s still in its box, in a drawer in the kitchen.

Smoke detectors seems like a basic necessity, and their general lack in a country so efficient, organized, and health- and safety-conscious is puzzling to me, even when factoring in the age of many of the buildings (there are detectors readily available that don't require any wiring or retro-fitting at all) or the materials with which they're generally constructed (bricks, stones, and cement – but other household objects are burnable and can create danger).

I also think it shows a lack of patriotism. After all, it was thanks to the poison gas experiments of a Swiss physicist that the path for the creation of the modern smoke detector was paved.

in its box, in a drawer ... next to the US-imported Cling Wrap!