Let's Talk Eggs

Ok..here is something else that seems strange to me. In the grocery stores they sell their eggs in cartons just on a regular shelf, not in the refrigerated section like we are used to. Now I wonder...it that safe? Why would our stores sell them refrigerated if they didn't need to be? The neighbor in the apartment across from ours leave their eggs out in a big bowl on the counter. It's a BIG bowl full of eggs. They have mostly brown eggs here too. Do brown eggs come from dark chickens? So, since I had no choice I had to buy eggs that were not refrigerated. I put them in the fridge as soon as we got home, of course. Maybe years ago, when people used ice boxes, before the refrigerator, we too kept eggs out on the counter. Unless you lived on a farm and you gathered them fresh everyday. Does anyone out there know? Am I risking my health, just one egg away from salmonella poisoning? For those of you who know me, you know that my oldest daughter is the perfect person to ask about this. I'll let you know what she says.