Are you a new person inside? Hmmmm?

greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread

Thought it would be interesting to ask if any of you have a new value system within now as we get closer to Y2K.

Is it for the better... or is it for worse? Say what.

-- Petey El (Smile@St.Peter.com), October 14, 1999

Answers

From: Y2K, ` la Carte by Dancr (pic), near Monterey, California

Even though this looks like a troll question to me, I'm going to go ahead and answer it anyway. I'm going to have to admit that I do think it has changed me, and not for the better. I used to be very open, trusting and generous, and I've had to stop being that way. I do not tell people what I am up to, and I've made elaborate plans as to how I'm going to avoid sharing my stuff. I've always left my car and house unlocked. Not anymore. I haven't trusted government, corporate PR or media in as long as I can remember, but now, I also don't trust my own family to recognize an emergency and take appropriate action.

-- Dancr (addy.available@my.webpage), October 14, 1999.


I think i have changed for the better. I have begun to think globally on an all new scale. I've learned to think of ways, and anticipate ways to take better care of my family. I have learned to do more research for myself, and ignore what is going on in the mainstream press. I have met lots of neat people, made lots of great connections. I have become a preparedness ACTIVIST.

Im very happy with all the things I have learned, and I feel that they will *benefit* me in the future.

-- Cory Hill (coryh@strategic-services.net), October 14, 1999.


The whole thing has forced me to reconsider our spending habits and indebtedness. This is something which we should have done, y2k or not, but it usually takes some kind of "wake up" call to get me thinking out of the box.

This has not changed my core values, but it *has* changed my outlook on how those values should control my spending and my concerns for my family and neighbors.

I am not hoping for big problems. But if they come, they could, in the end, be a very good thing for the country as a whole. We just *might* learn to be better neighbors again, and learn a bit more about working together, who knows, America might get her conscience back.

So, for me, this upcoming challenge, whether big or small, has been largely a positive thing. On the other hand, it is really becoming tiresome.

regards,

gene

-- gene (ekbaker@essex1.com), October 14, 1999.


Ditto, to what Gene said.

I'm a total power grid junky. I love toys and gadgets and all the trappings of modern life. However, in the back of my mind I always knew that it comes to no good end to confuse trivial fascinations wikth what is really essential to live.

I won't bullsh*t anyone, if it comes to TEOTWAWKI, I'll grieve for the loss of my 20th Century toys, but I've done the mental preparations and soul searching that I need to do, in order to not become suicidally depressed. I think that's going to be the hardest part, for all the people who aren't taking this seriously - the sudden loss of everything you used to fill your hours with.

For me, it's been a journey of part Existentiallism and part Zen. If you have a roof over your head, a fire to keep you warm, water to drink and food to fill your belly, then you will have fulfilled the biological requirements. As long as you have done that, then you will be alive, and given enough imagination, you will find a way to bring joy into your life.

-- Bokonon (bok0non@my-Deja.com), October 14, 1999.


It has definitely changed me. I have become much more spiritual and much less stuff oriented. My whole definition of "riches" has drastically altered. I have learned to appreciate my state of good health more and I savor simple pleasures. I am also braver about doing things like singing or expressing my heartfelt feelings to loved ones. I don't consider those to be risks anymore.

Understanding the interdependency and intricacy of our current way of life has both inspired and frightened me. The kindness exhibited to me and the comfort offered has touched me deeply. I have also been shocked by outpourings of vitriol heaped upon me and others from time to time. Every goal and dream I had has been changed. My entire future looks different than I expected it to. So of course I am different.

-- R (riversoma@aol.com), October 14, 1999.



Because of my background, preparation for my grown children and ourselves was second nature. What did effect me was my children for the first time saw just how incredibly uninformed their fellow Americans were about not only Y2K but the possibility of financial and NBC type threats. It was very sad for me to see them realize how their own government deliberately down-played a possible disaster coming their way. In a way I'm glad because it has made them very discriminating about news and its sources. It is painfull to grow up sometimes!

-- Neil G.Lewis (pnglewis1@yahoo.com), October 14, 1999.

I adapted based on the information I had gathered. Americans used to be known for their adaptability and it is a part of the American ethos: The ole pioneer spirit! Pull yourself up by the boot straps. I walked 8 miles to school in the snow. Be grateful for what you have and think of all the children in Africa starving who'd love what you have. Early to bed and early to rise makes one healthy, wealthy and wise. Waste not, want not. Give a hoot and don't pollute. Rumplestiltskin. When the going gets tough the tough get going! Daniel Boone. Abraham Lincoln. John Wayne. Oklahoma! The Sheriff. The Pose. Bonnie and Clyde. G.I. Joe. Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country! The Jungle. The God Father. The Great Depression. A man on the moon. Speed Racer. Live and let live. Religion is the opium of the masses. Play the Beatles backwards.

I am just an American no matter my choices, no matter how I reinvent myself, I was raised in CA during the Cold War when the nation was number one on the globe, and I'm sure all that I do and all that I am is the true American ethos. California flavor to say the least as I was educated from start to finish by it. A CA child from the Cold War now a CA adult facing Y2K. I'm no mystery and there are no mysterious changes within me.

-- Paula (chowbabe@pacbell.net), October 14, 1999.


I have changed so much I hardly recognize myself. I used to be a total anti gun person and now I am so happy my husband has some. If you would have told me this a couple years ago, I wouldn't have believed you. I feel like I have been asleep and I just woke up. Where have I been????? My world is a new place now.

I cannot relate to very many of my friends anymore.(this is sad for me) They are not seeing things at all the way I am and they don't appreciate my views. Unfortunately I am mad at many of them for not doing more and therefore adding to my children's risk level. Never before have I looked at a friend as a potential threat. This really throws me even more off balance than I already am.

My buying habits have TOTALLY changed for good.

I never even noticed tanks(gas, propane, kerosene) before and now I see them all over (like being pregnant)

I always thought solar was cool but never bothered with it before. Never gave a second thought to any utility except for the bills.

I've always prayed alot but never this much.

-- a mom (what@world.com), October 14, 1999.


Boy MOM I couldn't have said it any better.I almost thought I was writing that.

-- Curly~Q (Curly@Q.com), October 15, 1999.

y2k and the preparation/anticipation for it has amplified who I am, it has made me a bigger and better version of me. I have lost multiple friends, and acquaintences, and thus, I have become free of their influence, their tangles.. both good and bad. I have been able to separate the wheat from the chaff in my life, I now know who I can trust and who I can't. I know I am ready mentally, spiritually, and physically to meet the challenges and dilemmas within my power, and if something out of my control (multiple Nuke meltdowns or death at the hands of marauders) I also know that that holds no terror for me. I know why I am here, and I know what i'm doing. hence, they can kill me but they can never defeat me... Bring it on. Am i a better person? in terms of excellence.. yes. in terms of morality, by my definition.. yes, by popular definition... no. Popular morality would not aloww you to eliminate starving or diseased persons as a threat to yourslef, in my book, that's distasteful, but permissable behavior.

-- jeremiah (braponspdetroit@hotmail.com), October 15, 1999.


PS i'm definitely a better actor.. in some cases, i deserve an oscar!

-- jeremiah (braponspdetroit@hotmail.com), October 15, 1999.

Where is:

"keep your eyes open".....

<:)=

-- Sysman (y2kboard@yahoo.com), October 15, 1999.


It's better now that I've moved. Found a woman lost in the woods so I kept her. Been moving up to the mountains for some time and must admit that the possibility of a Y2K mess up prompted me to move a bit faster. Gave notice in the SF Bay Area I was leaving, started a Handyman business up here and love it. New type of job everyday and the little old ladys I work for are the best and most appreciative customers.

Do I miss the Big City. Never have and never will. Still go down there one day a week to work off a contract which ends in November. The owner is offering me more $ but no way.

BTW it takes a month of little jobs to make the same as a one week job in the Bay Area, but real estate/rent is less than a third of what I paid down there.

Take Care.

-- Mark Hillyard (foster@inreach.com), October 15, 1999.


Moderation questions? read the FAQ