Y2K Shambles

In 1999 who knew the world would be in such a panic? Especially nearing closer to 2000. With the new year encroaching upon us, people were terrified the computer systems would glitch because they stored data using the last two digits of the year. My mama heard this, along with the world, and started preparing. Here is a snippet of a conversation with her. "You better get ready! We will have no water, power, planes will fall out of the sky, we won't be able to get our money out of banks! It will be total panic. You can store some stuff in the garage." Then she opened up the garage. And OMG, she had about forty gallons of water, toilet paper stacked to the rafters, canned food covering a whole wall, it was crazy. "Mom, isn't this a bit too much?" She looked shocked at me, "what have you done? It's getting closer to the new year. When that ball drops, the world will be in darkness, Which reminds me, I need more flashlights. Do you want me to get you anything from the store?" "No, mom, I'm good. I'll get some groceries later. Thanks, though."

I was 21, living with my best friend, Lisa, and we were not really concerned. Our worry right now was our boyfriends, hers was a bit of a jerk. He always seemed to forget his wallet when it was time to pay for anything, and last night he had the nerve to ask her if she "really" needed to eat that piece of cake. I told her to kick him to the curb. We were having a New Year's party tomorrow night, and she wanted to give him another chance. My boyfriend was sweet, thoughtful, and very attentive to me. Very, very, very attentive. He always had to be touching me, or wanting to kiss me, and I was feeling smothered.

I went home, got Lisa, and we went shopping, our Y2K food consisted of chips & salsa, olives, a cheese tray, fresh fruit, and beer, wine, and soda. We were ready.

It seemed like everyone was scared of what would happen, you couldn't turn on the news without hearing about it. Downtown, there were people proclaiming the world was ending. It was a crazy time for sure. And it wasn't so much that I had a lot of faith in technology, it was really because I was young, and my concerns were my personal life, and I thought my mom was funny with her preparedness. My boyfriend Matt called and told me he had bought a keg and was bringing it over. We had decorated the condo, and put hats and scattered noisemakers around the tables. We were almost ready, except the food table. I went, and showered, and put on my party gown, it was all sequinned and gold, and made me feel like a princess.

We put out the food just as people were arriving. A friend of mine did express concerns about the condo being on the tenth floor, and if all the lights went out, how would we get out, but I assured her that I had flashlights and candles, and I would lead her down the stairs. As midnight loomed closer, one of the partiers told everyone of his uncle who had joined a survival camp. They had generators, dehydrated food, and guns, in case anyone threatened them. Some people had bought campers, and built underground shelters, and we had chips. I think I was questioning my life choices.

Five minutes until midnight, and I've never seen such excitement mixed with fear. What if the world stopped, and planes dropped from the skies? What if stores closed? I don't even know to grow pizza. And I don't own a gun, or a taser, or anything to protect my stuff. But who would rob me? I have no food, and they can't use my electronics. I should have listened to my mom, and she's ten miles away. I can't walk ten miles, I need a exercise class. I've had 4 beers, and I'm a pitiful drunk.

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, and DARK!

People started screaming in panic, and I looked out of the window and everybody's lights were on. What was going on?

Then the lights and music came back on, and Lisa's boyfriend came out of the laundry laughing his head off. "that was so funny." And nobody agreed with him. My opinion, he is a jerk. "Happy New Years everyone! I hope 2000 will be a wonderful year!" People stayed until about one, then I was alone. My answering machine had 10 missed calls from my mom, mainly. I decided to go see her in the morning.

I rode out to her house the next day, and she came out when she saw me. She opened the garage door, and asked me how many gallons of water I wanted, and could I use any canned goods. We both laughed. She told me she was up until midnight just watching the TV, praying everything would be okay. When everything was good, she went to bed. "You know, all the canned goods I bought wouldn't have done me any good if everything shut off." I asked why not, and she said "my can opener is electric.." I thought that was the funniest thing I'd heard.

There was little fallout from Y2K, maybe a few computer problems, but nothing to interrupt anyone's life. All the worry and stress leading up to that day was all for naught. It made me think a bit about my lack of preparing. If it had been an actual problem, I'd be screwed. I decided that if there was ever an issue again, I would prepare better.

Lisa walked in and said "what about lunch and a trip to the mall?" In her world, happiness was attained by food and shopping. I agreed, and as we were leaving I asked how her boyfriend was, and she made a thumbs down sign, which was good news to me. He was a jerk!