But that's exactly what happened in Strathfieldsaye this week when a resident called police after finding what they thought was a suspicious letter in their letterbox.

Police called the Country Fire Authority and specialist teams were summonsed from Melbourne and Shepparton to investigate and deal with the 'suspicious' letter.

In the end the mail was identified as simply a marketing ploy from a Benigo real estate agent and the 'suspicious' item inside was a teabag inviting people to ''have a cuppa'' with staff.

Some people would regard this whole incident as funny.

Others would see it far more seriously. 

In reality, it's probably somewhere in the middle.

But what this entire incident shows is that people have become extremely suspicious is the present climate of sinister threats and who can blame them.

We as a community are a little 'on edge' with the things that have been happening at home and abroad.

It's clear the warnings from police and government to stay alert for anything out of the ordinary are making people nervous and more suspicious.

Honestly, how is that a bad thing?

No doubt the Strathfieldsaye residents who sparked this incident are probably feeling a little bad about creating such a stir but you can't blame them for a minute.

If they felt threatened or concerned about something that was suspicious then we have all been programmed to report it immediately.

They did exactly what's required of them.

Yes, this might have been a waste of time, in the end, BUT what if this was something more sinister?

We can't blame the real estate agent either for trying to show some initiative in a marketing campaign.

Obviously, when the agency sent these letters out they would never have foreseen such an incident playing out.

To them this would have been a marketing campaign with a bit of fun that took a little more serious turn.

Many other residents would have received the letters without incident.

The police and Country Fire Authority for their part used the entire incident as a training exercise and that's another positive should the 'real thing' ever eventuate and let's hope it doesn't.

So, in the end, what we had was a major incident that wasn't much that brought a bit of life to a normal Wednesday night in Strathfieldsaye.

We should be thrilled this was nothing sinister and people were able to go on with their lives without incident.

Sadly, in far too many cases lately that hasn't always been the outcome.

So stay alert and report anything suspicious - that's the climate in which we now live and that's what's expected of us.