Listen all you preppys, me thinks that psychological panic is long going to proceed the technological failures of y2k. It's gonna start on a real subtle level, like I now refuse to keep money in the bank. When enough of us dough heads feel the same way, the party is over.

Duh!

-- Duh! (duh@duh.com), February 22, 1999

Answers

Well folks, do you think I should spent the time to TRY and enlighted Duh, or just another DWGI? <:)=

-- Sysman (y2kboard@yahoo.com), February 22, 1999.

I don't know Sysman, I went and dug out my old school tie, so I could feel at home with you other preppys. But, social panic is the wild card, is it not? It may start slowly, it may start sooner than later, or maybe not untill the interdependant systems start to ominusly fail?

But one thing's for sure; historically, not many people have died from a computer glitch. They have however, died from hunger, thirst, disease, and yes, even from being trampled in the street.

Back to Duh; what's your beef?

-- Lon Frank (postit@here.com), February 22, 1999.

Well gee folks, what are the different scenarios can we reinact here that panic can cause? "Food fight!" "There's a gunman in the crowd!" "There's a bomb planted here somewhere!" "I can't get my money from the bank!" "I'm hungry, where am I going to get food?" "Who is going to take care of me?" "My children are hungry!" "There's someone banging down my door!" "There's a mob outside rioting, and turning over cars!" "The city is on fire!" "There's no one manning the prisons!" Think collapse, total collapse, and not all dough heads think the same way.......

-- lock&load (lock&load@S&W.com), February 23, 1999.

"Am I too stupid for words, or did I crawl out from under a rock?"

Only you know.

-- Tom Carey (tomcarey@mindspring.com), February 23, 1999.

Duh:

You are a young one, I think. Run along and play.

-- The Tall Man (mortuary@phantasm.com), February 23, 1999.

Wouldn't it be ironic if panic started at Wall Street before it did with the general public? Let's say that "happy-faced" pieces by PR firms keep showing up in newspapers and magazines. The public stays calm.

Then, let's say in July, when large companies switch from non- compliant to compliant vendors, insiders get nervous. They buy personal preparation supplies, resign from their CEO positions, and then the stock market crashes.

This is all hypothetical, of course, but possible. Everyone in a position of power would get a chance to prepare, but John Q. Public would have to deal with large crowds in grocery and hardware stores to set aside a few supplies.

If and when panic starts, however, it will be due to the fact that the government did not finish its Y2K remediation by September 30, 1998 (the original target date), and due to the fact that the business world did not finish its remediation by December 31, 1998 (its generally agreed upon target date).

The public does not want to "get it" when it comes to Y2K. Neither does Wall Street. Panic can only happen if and when something forces either the general public or the stock market to realize that Y2K was not properly dealt with.

-- Kevin (mixesmusic@worldnet.att.net), February 23, 1999.

I chatted with Muffy and Skipper about this over drinks at L'Auberge, and we agreed that "preppy" is just too passe. One does need to remain au fait with the jargon, dear. While a bit redolent of World War II and "Saving Private Ryan" and all that, "GI" is the currently accepted term.

Excuse me, I need to have Charles shop for some more smoked salmon for the pantry. Keeps for simply months and months, you see...

-- Mac (sneak@lurk.com), February 23, 1999.

I suspect there'll be a sudden crisis which will spark an uncontrollable panic. It won't be subtle at all!

-- dinosaur (dinosaur@williams-net.com), February 23, 1999.