Most of us wouldn’t imagine letting our cousin Lenny pull out a decayed tooth or remove that funny mole that suddenly appeared on your shoulder.

Unless Lenny held a degree in dentistry or a medical degree in dermatology or surgery, we’d say, “Thanks, but no thanks.”

Professionals, with the experience, know-how and the official license would be our first and only choice.

But tons of us don’t hold the same high standards for something just as potentially dangerous — the walls around us and the roofs over our heads.

The State of Mississippi is sort of encouraging counties to get on board with the idea that countywide building codes would be a good idea. But as Mississippi is wont to do, its implementation is more of a toe dipping — if you want to dip it — rather than just jumping in with both feet.

Earlier this year, the Legislature passed a law that requires counties to either adopt a building code or vote to opt out of the requirement.

Judging by the outcries at Monday’s public hearing in Adams County, supervisors will almost certainly vote to not adopt the building codes.

But we cannot help but think that if they did, it might save a life or two in the next several years. How many house fires that are caused by electrical problems might be prevented if a professional — not cousin Lenny — had done the wiring work?

We may never know, but we certainly hope supervisors and the public as a whole will at least consider the possibility that some good could come out of adopting the codes before simply discounting the notion outright.