|
 Well,
for those of you that have wondered why I haven’t written about the impending
Y2K crisis, it’s simple, I have waited around to the last minute to see what
might or might not happen. I figure it this way; if any major stuff was about to
happen then I’d get some sort of indication through the media or otherwise and
I’d not look stupid in making some wild predications. Well, as you know by
now, that hasn’t happened and I think all of us are just sitting around
waiting for the 31st to roll around and then we’ll know for sure
what our fate will be. We’ve all heard various national personalities make
statements telling us that nothing will happen or that the sky will fall in on
our heads. Some tell us that the government will stop running, the banks will
fail, electricity won’t be available, and toilets won’t flush. I don’t
think anyone really has any clue as to what to expect come December 31st
at 11:59pm. Will the sky fall? I don’t think so. Will civilization as we know
it stop? I don’t think so. Will there be problems? I bet there will. You know
when you think of it, it’s kind of amazing that we’ve gotten ourselves in
this mess this quickly. Computers affect nearly every aspect of our lives in one
way or another. It’s almost to the point that when you go into a store and try
to pay for something, if the computer is down, the cashier doesn’t know how to
make change. "Let’s see you gave me a $5.00 bill and your lunch was
$3.50, I’m sorry but the computer isn’t working so I can’t figure out how
much change I owe you." Well, hello is this rocket scientist stuff or what?
Did the world stop 50 years ago when we didn’t have computers? I think not. We
did quite well, thank you very much. Maybe not as fast, or as efficient, but the
world did function and we weren’t starving to death, like some pundits have
said we will be doing from January 1st onward. I know, I know, we do
depend upon computers for a lot of things, but let’s be real. Will your
toaster work on January 1st? I’ll bet it does. Will our television
work and our water come on? Sure thing. You can bet that the folks that run
those things aren’t going to let days, week or months go by while they figure
out how to provide these services. We had water and lights long before we had
computers. I’ll bet we’ll have them next week as well. On the other hand,
will the government work as efficiently? Well, that’s something of an oxymoron
isn’t it? Does the government ever operate efficiently? Can the government
operate efficiently? I’m quite certain that we’ll be hearing this from
various government agencies for many months to come…"Sorry, but that’s
a Y2K problem." You can be sure they’ll trot that old dog out for many
months to come. Now in the case of the IRS, maybe that’s not so bad, but
I’ll bet it will only happen to those of us that might get a refund check.
Certainly not the ones who owe for past due taxes. Can we survive this impending
doom? Can you make a cheese sandwich? Can you drink tap water or canned drinks?
How much food is in your pantry that you haven’t tried to eat? If you were
like me it wouldn’t hurt you to miss a few meals. Especially after the current
pie season we just experienced at Christmas. Let’s get real folks. The stores
will be open. Some things we might not get for one reason or another, but life
as we know it will go on and we will survive. There are such things as hand
operated can openers. I’ve used one in the past and I can use one next week if
I have to do so. I have enough gas in my car to last a few weeks. I can survive
not having to fly anywhere for awhile until everyone gets comfortable with air
traffic and those computers. I don’t want to be in airplane at midnight on the
31st even though probably nothing will happen. Why tempt fate? I
noticed the other day that airfare to Tokyo and back was $199. What a deal, but
I for one, don’t want to be at 35,000 feet over the Pacific at the stroke of
midnight and have something go bad. While I suspect that nothing major will
occur, who wants to be the one to test an untested system? Nope, I plan on
sitting on the porch, opening a bottle of wine or something with a non-electric
bottle opener and ushering in the New Year with a minimum of fanfare, I will
not, I repeat, will not be out on the highway or driving in town. I will then
test my computer a day or so later. If it doesn’t work, then I can always
write this thing out in long hand using a pencil. You do remember pencils
don’t you? They are these little yellow stick looking things that you press
down on a piece of paper and marks appear. Oh, yes and for those of you that
don’t remember, the ‘delete’ button for a pencil is located at the
opposite end of the point. It’s a small red rubber looking thingy that you
apply with vigor to your mistake. Ask your kids, they’ll be able to help you
out. See you next year. Thanks for reading this. If you have good comments send
them to me quick at www.pearyperry.com.
If you have nasty negative things, send them on anyway, but I’ll bet I won’t
ever be able to read them. It’s a Y2K thing.
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