Yet this is happening, and we hear about its horrible consequences over and over again.
She rarely makes a bold move, and even on minor issues she is cautious and thinks through the possible consequences over and over again.
However, it is less clear whether such parental effects persist or have functional consequences over longer time-scales, linking a parent's previous immune experience to future immune responsiveness in fully grown offspring.
William Hague has warned Iran it faces "serious consequences" over the attack on the British embassy in Tehran.
The world will face terrible consequences over many years to come for failing to intervene in Syria, Tony Blair has said.
The impact of theft on our historic sites and buildings has far-reaching consequences over and above the financial cost of what has been stolen.
Patchett explores, with wry sympathy, the fallout from one, lustful gin-stoked encounter and its far-flung consequences over the decades.
This is not healthy for a sustainable peace in Northern Ireland and you see the consequences over marches, flags and so on".
So many calamities, big and small, are: the failure or inability to work out the day-to-day consequences, over a period, of our actions.
Across the oceans, fishermen are caught up in a "race to fish" their quotas, a race that has had tragic, and environmentally disastrous, consequences over many decades.
In trying to deliver on a policy agenda that will reveal its full consequences over years, even decades, Duncan is doing the opposite of putting up a shot that will either go in or rim out.
