Score one for the dumbheads

A couple of years ago, my wife and I along with some of those eclectic array of friends I mention in my profile went down to St. Maarten for some unforgettable R&R. It was particularly unforgettable for Margie and me because, while we didn't have passports, we had our birth certificates which we were assured would get us there and back.

Well, yes and no.

My wife's certificate, issued by the state of Pennsylvania, was just fine. My birth certificate, issued by Uniontown Hospital and displaying a big gold seal the size of a pie plate, was not. "A souvenir" was the way the USAir ticket agent uncharitably described it. As a result, my wife could head to the Caribbean but, alas, I could not - at least not before I obtained a state-issued birth certificate.

So I figured my choice was to (a) get a birth certificate immediately or (b) stay home. I opted for the first choice, got a certificate that day (Who knew?) and joined my wife and friends the next day in sunny St. Maarten.

But now that I have been reading about the government delaying until June the date by which television stations must broadcast in an all-digital format, I realize too late that I had a third option. Maybe I could have gotten USAir to delay the flight until I was ready to go. Little kenned I that a lot of other people could be forced to wait for me to get my act together! Sure the plane was all fueled up, the bags were stowed and all seats were in their upright and locked positions but so what?

Excuse me, I... wasn't... ready.

I knew months in advance when the plane was leaving and what I needed to do to be on it but I screwed up. Should everybody else have had to wait for me? No, I don't think so. It would have been nice but, no, I don't think so.

An article in this morning's Wall Street Journal included this: "Citing data from Nielsen Company, Rep. Rick Boucher (D., Va.) said 6.5 million households are unprepared for the shift. This represents 5.7% of all homes. 'If almost 6% of the nation's households lose all of their TV service, I think most people would declare the digital TV transition to be a failure,' Rep. Boucher said."

Yo Rick! If after two years of notification and relentless promotion, over 94% of the nation's households don't lose all of their TV service, I think most people would declare the digital transition to be a success! I'm willing to bet that no one on that plane thought that their vacation would be a failure because I wasn't there (well, maybe my wife - bless her - but that's about it).

I'm waiting for some Republican to get wind of this comment and say something like, "If almost 47% of the nation's households voted for the losing candidate, I think most people would declare the 2008 presidential election a failure." Actually, no, probably only about 47% of people would feel that way but, hey, that's the way the majority-minority provision works. And come June 12th, when 5.9 million homes are still unprepared for the shift to digital (but 108.1 million are), I hope that someone remembers that.

As for me, well, Margie and I got passports - real nice. They come in a leather case and there's pictures and pockets and everything. But I still have my birth certificate from Uniontown Hospital. I love that big gold seal!