I carry almost all the time other than when I'm at work (mil= no carry at work).
Realistically, I dont WANT to shoot someone but anytime I have the potential to do so- I am prepared and willing to pull the trigger if necessary. SA is important, imho it's better to see a bad situation and try to get away from it. Assholes gonna asshole sometimes, I avoid situations like that when unarmed but even more so when armed. Trouble is something I never look for- but how do you think a 'simple' fight would go being armed vs. unarmed? Unarmed you might catch a beating. If you're armed, and risk being incapacitated it changes the dynamic. Options range from having your weapon taken, or used on you, or you escalate the situation to a place it never needed to go. That situation scares me 1000x worse than the criminal wishing to do me harm at some random time.
For a situation you'd actually NEED to have a firearm are the reasons we carry. Someone with a knife, a gun, threatening you harm or robbery. I'm of the mindset that if someone is willing to rob me, they've already made thw decision that they're willing to harm me as well. Goes right back to being willing... I'd never draw on someone who didn't warrant shooting, so legal issues may be a PITA but as long as you aren't trying to be a ghetto gunfighter it's hard for me to imagine a reason you'd find yourself in hot water for a bad shoot.
Tl;dr= be responsible, be polite, be aware, but be willing to ise the tools you have.