It’s the new thing to be scared of. No, not war, or a terrorist attack, or hoards of undocumented immigrants, or even losing your job. Losing your television. Every damn station, in English and in Spanish, reminds you that DTV is coming. Hurry run to the store and get a converter box or you will lost your novela, reality show, sitcom! Hell even Jorge Ramos is dedicating a segment every damn Sunday on his “news” show Al Punto, to the DTV switch.

Add to this the invented scarcity of DTV converter coupons, making those red plastic credit card looking things the latest must have item or else, you won’t have tv.

Yesterday, the Senate voted to extend the transition from analog to digital television broadcasting by four months to June 12 pending Congressional approval. Which means, yay, four more months to freak people out. Four more months of cable and satellite companies luring people to purchase cheap for now packages.

Pero really, is no television the worst thing that could happen to us? Will our children die without the latest Saturday morning cartoon (ok maybe some parents will)? Do we really need to see who the Bachelor will pick? Yes television is a fun distraction and I guess can be educational and inform us of current events pero maybe with less tv more people will buy newspapers and save that industry. We can read more. And can’t more and more people who are tapped into the internet use that to watch tv? Will less tv save you money on your electric bill in these tough economic times.

I have two DTV converter coupons sitting in my desk and it’s easy to get caught up in the hype. Which converter is the best one? Maybe I should just get a new tv? Maybe I can afford a cheap cable plan or add it to my internet service and get one of those double play deals.

Maybe we should turn off our televisions for a second and pay more attention to the world around us. Spring will be here soon. Maybe we should all just take a walk.