PREPARE: Need helpful advice

Richard Dance has promised the people of the Cd’A area a definitive guide on how to make it through a predicted natural disaster. However, Dance’s approach is far from helpful.

He begins by telling people to carry large amounts of cash on them. This is a danger to personal safety, especially in the event of a disaster. It is a well-known fact that looting and mugging are byproducts of disaster and encouraging people to be prime targets for violence is not beneficial to survival.

Next, Dance undermines his credibility when he recounts a recent trip where he was knowingly ill-prepared. There was potential to be stuck on the side of the road, and, in the worst case, contract hypothermia, and he didn’t even bring a jacket. He thought about preparing for the worst, but didn’t.

Lastly, Dance compares a potential natural disaster to an act of terror: the attack on the World Trade Centers. He makes an example of people running for their lives in high heels. He suggests that it would’ve been better for them if they had been carrying a pair of running shoes with them. His advice: Carry sensible shoes as to not be in the same predicament as those who had no warning.

I’m sorry, Mr. Dance, but last time I checked, a terrorist attack and a natural disaster were not the same thing. Keep your advice to applicable examples and leave the victims of senseless violence out of it.

OLIVIA HEISEY

Coeur d’Alene