Ne explétif

Emma says "je crains que ce ne soit un peu trop bruyant pour moi". I understand that this is an example of the 'ne explétif', where the 'ne' does not mean 'not', but is a more 'old-fashioned' form of expression, used with phrases like je crains que, avant que, à moins que, etc. It was explained to me that it is optional in modern French, and not commonly used.  In which case, would it be likely that Emma would use it in this context?  Or is it there just to provide an example of this concept?  (i.e. should we use it or can we safely ignore it when speaking?)