The wisdom learned from y2k is to put love over money. Many people refuse to accept the y2k as being a challeging problem because they are not willing to let go in their mind the convienances that modern technology has brought them. Rather then seeking understanding of this life disrupting issue that may have tremendous life safety implications they choose to ignore it. Why? Because putting love over money has never been tested in our lifetimes the way Y2k will it. Only those who have had their lives shattered by the great deppression, war , unepected disaters or medical and financial catastropes can even come close to begin to understand the potential y2k can cause. It doesnt take a rocket scientist to figure out there is a serious design flaw built in to the world's software and fireware that occured over a 30 year period of development of modern computers. It wont be fixed overnight or in a few short days if it hasnt been fixed by 4 years of hard work, trillions of man hours and trillions of dollars of resources pour in by large corporations in an attempt to re engineer our modern software infrastructure to ignore the y2k bug.

Putting love first will have it's rewards come y2k bug or not. Ignore putting love first will always have it's consequences. It's not easy to tell Dgi family and friends , But you must do it. Tell them that it is because I love you that I have to deliver the upsetting message of the y2k and that you will help them in any way possible. They may not want to hear it but when tshtf they will be glad you warned them and your love and caring will shine and give them hope when things get tough. If they still dont get it after you have told you can at least have a good conscience that you have put love over material stuff or being politically correct.

-- y2k aware mike (y2k aware mike @ conservation . com), July 16, 1999

Answers

Well, I would love to convince my Aunt and Uncle about Y2k, but they still give me the "The rich people won't let that happen" line.

I can't afford to prepare for them. I make $1400/month. Most of that goes to paying off the student loan. I am already worried about what to do if they come to us demanding that we feed them. How do you turn loved ones away at the point of a gun?

-- Tim the Y2K nut (tmiley@yakko.cs.wmich.edu), July 16, 1999.

I've been putting love over money my whole dang life. That is why I'm too poor now to do more than prep for me and my 2 kids. I wish I had enough money to prep for at least my DGI mom. She lives in LA and acts like she Gets It but then expressed shock when I told her to expect some problems with her Windows 98. Aaaaargh.

-- R (riversoma@aol.com), July 16, 1999.

What if its not a question of money but of location? Do you stay in a dangerously urban location to try to help your DGI loved ones who just won't move? OK maybe they'll agree to bug out (to where?) after the problems start but by then it may be impossible.

So you stay with them, and you all suffer and maybe die. Or you leave them, and you survive - but you may never know what happens to them.

Emotionally it seems more honorable to stay and die fighting (how do you fight disease? or the goverment) at their side but....but....but....its also instinctive to flee from danger.....

Arrgghhhhh !

-- biker (y2kbiker@worldnet.att.net), July 16, 1999.

Tim, you point them in the direction of the nearest warming station or emergency shelter. There, they can fight the hordes of other denialists for scraps of food, sips of water and a place to rest. That is, unless you live in my neck of the woods. They aren't planning on feeding or housing anyone.

Perhaps someone who has the time can re-post the thread (posted on this forum several months back)on the Canadian town that went without power for about 5 weeks due to the ice storm, and what it was like to live in a shelter for that amount of time.

-- OR (orwelliator@biosys.net), July 17, 1999.

Biker,

Oddly enough it seems that it is not at all instinctive to flee from danger. It seems to be much more "instinctive" to close your eyes and hope danger will go away. You have to ask yourself what they would want. Will they want to see you suffer and/or die with them with an unpsoken "I told you so" forever on your lips or would they be much happier knowing you are safe? I can't go to LA and protect my mom from water outages, sewage spills and race wars. I will serve her much better by staying up here. At least then she might have a chance to get here even after TSHTF if she is resourceful and very lucky. I just wonder how she will even find me if I end up having to head for the hills.

One thing for sure. Y2k will make our small world much bigger again. Without gas 10 miles will be a long long ways away.

-- R (riversoma@aol.com), July 17, 1999.