Interesting letter on the editorial page of the morning Seattle paper.

Titled "Millennium Mayhem", a woman writes "I am so tired of hearing about all the Y2K problems and what is going to happen..." She goes on to say that "people on the west coast, just relax...". She ends by saying that we should all tune in to the New York Times Square celebration and if "all of New York goes black and the town gets wiped off the face of the Earth, we will still have three whole hours to head for the hills before it hits here."

Guess all we really needed to know is that time is of the essence...

From www.seattle-pi.com - editorial page A14

-- Valkyrie (anon@please.xcom), November 10, 1999

Answers

With three hours, I figure she could maybe get to the east end of the 520 bridge before the lights go out. That's a little short of "the hills". Oh well, that should be plenty, she can trot down the beach and ask Bill and Melinda for a handout.

-- bw (home@puget.sound), November 10, 1999.

It's funny how people who have done little or nothing in the way of real research always say they're "tired of hearing about IT" I have experienced much the same reaction trying to tell relatives of the possible problems that might result. They usually get downright hostile when I attempt to bring it up, so I've given up trying to warn 'em. And these are well educated people.

I have been trying to put my finger on a common thread that GI's all have. I work in a creative business where visualization of ideas is a daily activity and 90% of the people at work "get it". Maybe imagination has something to do with it. It seems people with little or no imagination have a hard time "picturing" what might happen. I personally know two family members who are lawyers and they are the biggest skeptics.

I believe these are the same people who while driving on the highway, get stuck behind the stalled semi-trailer truck in the middle lane. They haven't looked far enough down the road to realize their lane is the only one blocked.

-- Dale (dale@spicreative.com), November 10, 1999.

bw

If tshtf, which direction do you suppose the idiots will take to get out of Seattle? South to Portland - past Ft. Lewis? or East of the mountains? I have had nightmares for months that they would try to head East - how many will die trying to cross the passes in the middle of winter? People on this side are so inept (to put it kindly) at driving in any kind of snow. Anyone have a guess as to how long it will take with the power out before they try to get to some area that has (or supposedly has) power? With the number of SUV's and 4wd pickups, they seem to think think they can go 60 in the snow and the vehicle will take care of them...frightening images I prefer not to think about, but this woman's comments made me think of it again. Wonder how fast martial law can shut down I90 and I5? Also have wondered if the CG or Navy contingency plans call for shutting down the marinas/ports as well...

-- Valkyrie (anon@please.xnet), November 10, 1999.

If this woman thinks there aren't traffic problems in the larger west coast cities, then the reason why she DGI is pretty obvious, isn't it? But is a non-existent problem. That's why larger corporations are paying hundreds of millions of dollars to fix non-existent problems.

-- haha (haha@haha.com), November 10, 1999.

More disturbing to me is the fact that our local Hawaii County Civil Defense guy, the point man here for Y2K, declares emphatically,to anyone who will listen, that:

"We have an advantage, here in Hawaii, because we will have many hours to see the impact of Y2K around the world before it gets here..."

Hey, HOURS! Wow! Why, with that kind of advantage, we'll be able to have a real edge over most of the rest of the world. No doubt, if things look really bad, he'll be able to keep his other big "commitment to the public", which is:

"You have my word. I promise to communicate with you."

Thanks, anyway, I'd rather communicate with my friends. The only thing I wanted from you was advance contingency planning, which we never got.

-- Sara Nealy (keithn@aloha.net), November 10, 1999.

Picture this: Something unrelated to y2k knocks out the direct feed from Time Square. New York is fine, but Joe Sixpack in Santa Rosa doesn't KNOW that. All he knows is that there's no TV shot of the big ball. He assumes the worst.

Guess what happens next.

-- the (martians@have.landed), November 10, 1999.

I'm a transplant from the east coast to the west coast, and have pondered quite seriously why DGI's DGI. During a y2k chat with a coworker, it dawned on me that all my life I had to prepare for emergencies - hurricanes, blizzards, floods. So, when the warnings were received, my family prepared. Where I live now there really is nothing to prepare for - other than earthquakes which still are not predicted with certainty, nor as common to my state as California. This had led me to wonder if the issue is one of state of mind? Most of my friends and coworkers have never had to prepare for anything before and aren't taking y2k seriously. Hope they are all correct in their reluctance, but....... I'll be safe!

-- Pam (PammiOakly@oakly.com), November 10, 1999.

Pam, speaking of state of mind... "I'll be safe!" ????? You may want to re-examine your assumption of safety. If TSHTF, very few people will be "safe". Some will be stocked up with food or various supplies, most won't. The many that aren't will be looking for the few that are. Many will be armed, some will be faster, meaner, quicker to shoot. If things get really bad (8-10 on the scale), few will be truly prepared no matter how "prepared" they are. And very few will be truly safe. If it happens, societal chaos even on a mild level, is nothing to be glib about. Have you ever been in a true riot - like where people get killed? Have you ever travelled in countries where there is famine and disease and nothing works? Please, contemplate what you are saying... and thinking.

Joe

-- Joe (paraflyr@cybernet1.com), November 11, 1999.

Meant to say also: One reason that DGIs DWGI, is that the implications are so fearsome. If society really can be that threatened by a stupid little shortcut, tnhe we have obviously put our (almost religious faith in the wrong gods. And there are enough people that do know and/or have seen how bad things can get, that they are simply overwhelmed by thinking about it, so they don't. They would rather be comfortable and ignorant thank you very much.

Y2k is an amazing demonstration of the power of denial.

Joe

-- Joe (paraflyr@cybernet1.com), November 11, 1999.