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Staying Connected: seniors, digital TV, and public service

Staying Connected: seniors, digital TV, and public service

The day I received the registration materials for my first year law school classes, I called my Grandma.  Her first reaction was “You have Arthur Miller as a professor? He’s such a smart man!  Such a handsome man!  I’m sure that will be a wonderful class!”  She went on to tell me what I could expect from Professor Miller, based on her many years as a loyal fan of “Miller’s Court."
 
Grandma Mae came to mind instantly when Caron Atlas first came up with the idea of organizing a project to help seniors with the transition to "Digitial TV," as part of Brad’s effort to emphasize (and do) community service through his campaign. TV was her Grandma’s lifeline -- one of the primary ways in which she connected with the world -- especially as she aged, her circle of friends and relatives from her generation contracted, and she spent more time at home.  Imagining how upset she would have been to lose her connection -- and that plenty of seniors in our communities face the same threat if they don’t have someone to help them navigate the complicated process of obtaining and connecting DTV converter boxes -- made me eager to participate in the initiative.
 
In June, as a result of a Federal law passed last year, all television signals will go digital.  People who have cable or satellite or new TVs are covered ... but people with rabbit ears and older TVs must install new converter boxes, or their TVs will go dark on June 12th.  You can get two coupons to help pay for them, but almost every step of the process -- applying for the coupons, buying the boxes, installing the boxes, and getting them to work -- is overly complicated.
 
So, over the past few months, volunteers from Brad's campaign have spoken about the DTV transition at several Senior Centers in our communities.  We have helped provide information, and
offered to help people apply for coupons the government is issuing to help defray the costs of converter boxes, advice about purchasing converter boxes and to help connect converters in people’s homes. (You can learn more about DTV conversion here, or email us at dtv [at] bradlander [dot] com for help).
 
A few weeks ago at a presentation in Carroll Gardens, Brad introduced me to Agnes, who is 80 and Violet, who is 92.  We spent about 10 minutes chatting.  Both needed help connecting their converter boxes.
 
They were skeptical of our offers to help, but I promised to call them to follow up.  When I called a few days later to set up a time, I could tell they were surprised to hear from me.
 
This week, Josh Breitbart and I went to their homes. We started with Agnes.  Her grandson had started to connect the converter and a new antenna before our visit, but it didn’t appear to work. After a few minutes of fiddling with the converter box and antenna, Josh got the television to work.  He explained how to use the new remote control that came with the converter box and why the reception wasn’t as good as one might expect. Agnes lamented her large collection of remote control devices and the fact that she needs to move her new antenna across the room to get good reception.  
 
Violet had asked that Agnes be present when we went to her house, so we all walked over together.  A large “entertainment center” that at one time held a television, radio and phonograph dominated one wall of Violet’s living room.  She explained that she has owned the piece since she was in her 20s. Josh took a quick look at the TV and concluded that it was too old to connect to the converter box without an adaptor.  We promised to return with an adaptor and connect the convertor box another time. Josh connected the converter box to a slightly newer second television in her bedroom and scanned for channels.  After about 10 minutes, he had the TV working and gave Violet detailed instructions for how to use the new remote control.
 
Both ladies had been happy with their TV reception. Neither seemed to think that slightly improved reception or the addition of several channels was worth the trouble caused by the transition.
 
As we prepared to leave, Agnes said that her friends at the Senior Center predicted that we wouldn’t follow up on her request for help.  She told us that she was looking forward to letting them know that we came and we helped them solve the problems caused by the DTV transition.
 
As she spoke, I realized that that she spoke to the reason why I have been eager to volunteer on Brad’s campaign and to help out with this initiative:  Local government touches people’s lives in a very immediate way.  Our elected officials should inspire confidence that that they seek to solve the problems we face and that they will follow through with their promises.  And government has a crucial role to play in encouraging us to be engaged (because we see the results that our engagement can reap) and to do our part to help other members of our communities.
 
I hope that over the next few months we can continue to help a handful of seniors with the DTV transition, that we can find other positive contributions to make in our communities, and that Brad becomes the type of elected official who inspires confidence that government can -- and will -- work to understand and solve our problems.