If God called off the y2k bug today, and guaranteed complete 'normalcy' (in other words, your external pre-GI life will continue uninterrupted for many years to come), would you say the experiences (real and psychological) since your GI experience were worth it ? What have you learned ? Are you a better person in any way ?

One thing for me: As someone else said, I can never look at a grocery or hardware store the same ever again. And never have less than minimum 2000 rounds of stored ammo per firearm.

But it is weird: in my first GI panic, I was SURE that by this time (mid Dec '98) all the shelves would be bare. Yet even today I could still buy MOST (but not ALL) of the 'stuff' I rushed around acquiring then.

-RC

-- Runway Cat (runway_cat@hotmail.com), December 17, 1998

Answers

The experience was (and is) invaluable. Learning just how dependant we are on a fragile infrastructure, and the need to be mentally and physically independant of such an infrastructure will be a lesson I and my family will never forget.

Knowing our society's ignorant dependance on these systems, and learning about the loss of the ability to live off the land, was a wake-up call that I hope many in our fold will always remember and pass on.

-- INVAR (gundark@aol.com), December 17, 1998.

I can't say anything that INVAR didn't just say. "You can never go home again" is, for me, very apt.

-- Jack (jsprat@eld.net), December 17, 1998.

Ditto to INVAR. Preparation for any emergency is a must.

-- Anti-Chainsaw (Tree@hugger.com), December 17, 1998.

The phrase "forever changed" comes to mind. The process of educating myself about Y2K has taught me so much about the reality of our technology-dependent society and the fragility of the gossamer starnds that allow it to move so fast and work so well. I know there will be significant impacts when some of those strands break and perhaps much of the fabric will be blown away. Preparing has been an invaluable educational and growth process.

-- Mac (sneak@lurk.com), December 17, 1998.

I don't think my "attitude of gratitude" will ever be the same. I've always appreciated life in general, and been quick to thank others for gifts, etc. But, this has truly changed the way I see my life. There are so many "little" things that I have taken for granted. Not any more!

-- Gayla Dunbar (privacy@please.com), December 17, 1998.

The biggest way it has changed me is that I've lost my faith in technology and the system. Not that (despite graduate degrees from MIT and elsewhere in technical fields) I ever exactly LIKED (high) technology or felt all that comfortable with it, but I bought into the reigning idea - that hi-tech is inevitable, that those who create and support it are largely infallible, that I'd better "be with the program" or be left behind. Now, despite my DOUBTS about y2k apocalyse, I have completely lost that attitude. I no longer have any special admiration for high technology, it is just another game, no better or worse, and ultimately no less or more based on faith and unreason, than the sun cults of the Sioux.

(no offense, Sioux readers, everyone who's human is in this together).

-RC

-- Runway Cat (runway_cat@hotmail.com), December 17, 1998.

It's made me realise that I've been hypocritical and foolish for living within this system that I've hated for nearly ten years, rather than walking the talk and permanently bugging out - living in a sane and ethical manner, outside the support/control of the beast. In reality I've still been urban and (somewhat) conventional because it was easiest, although I might have told myself that I was working within the system to improve things/tear it down. This justification reminds me of Homer, saying "...but Marge, if I'm part of that mob I can steer it in wise directions." while he was holding an air-horn and wearing a giant foam cowboy hat. Y2k has made me regret all my time wasted in schools and universities, has made me wish I had some cash, has made me wish I had more 1890's skills and less 1990's skills. But maybe most of all it has made me thank myself over and over for being the kind of creature who cares to find out what's going on; who cares for the truth. If I weren't a curious cat I would most certainly be toast in 13 months time, given that there are probably ten sevnalevns within five miles of my house. As it is, due to my curiousity, I got an early warning which has helped my chances and those of my family and friends.

-- humpty dumpty (hal9000@waco-rules-of-engagement-see-it.com), December 17, 1998.

I write a very small column for a very small newspaper. My motto has always been: To be uninformed is to be at risk. My motto has never served me better. Although I laughed when I first heard of y2k and said, "Good! My computer is a piece of hateful junk." Hadn't become informed at that point of course. I was planning a rather elaborate wild flower garden, and switched instantly to a rather elaborate vegetable garden. Ahh, the plans of mice and men/women.

-- gilda jessie (jess@listbot.com), December 17, 1998.

Since I've been living differently over the past eleven years, it's not as much a wake-up call in terms of living off the corporate path. It IS a real motivator to ultimately get off the grid completely and live a life that is sustainable, in many ways. Thank goodness, big gardens can grow both flowers and vegetables. Sort of the English cottage-garden approach. One for the soul the other for the body. Living "simple" looks so appealing now.

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), December 17, 1998.

This is true Diane. I'm leaving room for flowers. We are also easing off the grid, y2k or not.

-- gilda jessie (jess@listbot.com), December 17, 1998.

Well, I'll put it this way. Since becoming aware of the magnitude of the problem and concequences, I've learned and enriched my mind in everything from gardening to philosophy, to food storage to politics. I've had an intensive and highly stressful education, the whole time on adrenaline which sharpened my focuse, therefore it all imprinted on my brain more efficiently then before. I can confidently say that I have wisened faster in this time period than I would have in 5 years, more or less.

And I still look only 10 months older ;)

-- Chris (catsy@pond.com), December 17, 1998.

Great question RC.

ARE MY "GETTING IT" EXPERIENCES WORTH IT?

SHIT YES! I've never had to "WORK" at being responsible for the well being of myself or my family. At least, I have'nt had to work very hard. Pick up a phone, and write a check. That's about all there is to it. If I didn't feel like making anything for supper, I'll just let McDonald's, Kraft Macroni and Cheese, or the local "PIZZA"-"PIZZA" take care of it. If I did'nt feel like chopping a cord of wood, Michigan Gas would take care of the warm and cozy part. If we all want to take a shower every morning before work and school, Well that's why I'm paying $65 a month for water, sewage and garbage pickup. All this is just a very small chunk of the pie.

Has it been worth it?... Have I learned anything ?...Has it made me a better person?...

Well I've learned that I've been letting my TV raise my son, Let Ronald McDonald feed him. All the while I've been watching it happen.

Until this, it never dawned on me that it should be any other way. But I've changed that. I've come to the realization that I'm the only responsible for my family and myself.

Whether it turns out to be a bump, or it turns out to be a cliff, I'ts been a learning experience like no other in my short lifetime. It will stay with me for the rest of my life. I Thank GOD.

BUSBAR

-- busbar (busguy@city.net), December 17, 1998.