San Diego County has begun mailing a booklet entitled Family Disaster Plan and Personal Survival Guide  to its 1.4 million resident households. Columnist Logan Jenkins of the San Diego Union-Tribune  is not so sure that this is money well spent, but it seems he is mostly miffed at the expenditure of money toward something that common sense is supposed to provide to each and every one of us.

Regardless of Jenkins’ non-dismissal of the guide, one thing in his column  does bear repeating. While the guide suggests that folks should not go "sightseeing," Logan writes, "When disaster strikes, we’re all reporters, taking notes."

He agrees that we shouldn’t get in the way of emergency personnel. But as the guide notes, one of our jobs during a crisis is to "Check on the neighbors." If it isn’t obvious by now, when it comes to the “Big One” it is likely that you will have to take care of yourself for awhile.

Does preparedness require your common sense alone? Or are you better served with lists, instructions and plans that everyone knows? What works best for you and your neighbors?