Static damage certianly happens and simple safegaurds reduce the risk, but static damage has been way over dramatized/hyped over the years.
Back in the 80s (and earlier) electrical components where very sensitive but wtih modern design it is significantly harder to cause ESD damage.
Working in a non-carpeted environment and grounding yourself prior to touching metal will all but garantee no risk of ESD.
Now I do not recommend people unbox and "play" with their hardware before ready to build, it is just asking for accidental damage.