I get it. The digital transition will leave some without TV reception if they don’t install a converter box. It’s about preparation. So let’s spend millions of airtime dollars to both inform and then remind the public to take action.

Yet when was the last time there has been a public service message about something far more important: disaster preparedness?Make no mistake. We will have aother terror attack, an earthquake or other weather related event that will shut down some combination of stores, the electric grid, the water supply and possibly financial institutions. People will once again be without food, batteries, gasoline and emergency cash. They will have no candles or radios. They will be without bottled water. They will have no first aid supplies. Infants will be without diapers.

This is not about pessimism; it’s about realism. Where is the leadership of our state and local officials? Where are the articles in local newspapers? Where are the voices of TV and radio personalities? Lets get our priorities straight. Survival trumps the digital transition.

Dick Schenk
Ballwin