From several years ago I remember reading that Leica did tests on their cameras that had been stored in the cocked position for a long period of time. They even tested some that had been cocked and put away at the start of WWII and never fired agian. I think the study was in the late 1950s or early sixties. Leica wanted to determine if leaving the cameras cocked had any effect on the timing springs in the shutter mechanism. The result was: no effect. The shutters were still accurate after many years of inactivity.
As to wasting a frame or two of film once in while, well, who hasn't wasted a frame or two? Film is always the cheapest part of the equation.
BTW, if women ran the Air Force would we still call the driver's compartment of a plane the cockpit?