The Memphis Flyer is the free, hip, weekly alternative to the daily paper. From this week's issue, released today, and found online at http://www.memphisflyer.com/issue561/cr561.htm#Fly-on-the-wall

Y2K Ready?

Despite the recent proclamations of President Clinton and other public officials, the Memphis Police Department is telling its officers to prepare for the worst come midnight on January 1st. Though MPD officials deny any knowledge, a Y2K handout, leaked last week to the Flyer, is reportedly being circulated in the MPD academy's inservice training sessions. Called "Year 2000 Preparation Check List: Your Life Could Depend On It," the handout instructs officers how to prepare for the possibility of total chaos come the new year, when doomsayers predict the world's computers will likely crash. Among the reassuring pointers the handout gives are:

7 Store two- to four-weeks' supply of water and food.

7 "Don't count on your automatic paycheck, Social Security, or child support payments to be readily available. Withdraw enough cash to last a week or two of expected banking confusion. Expect prices will go up due to shortages of goods."

7 "Don't plan any unnecessary travel around the holidays, especially by air."

"Have additional ammunition for legally owned firearms .

Now, don't we all feel better knowing that when the you-know-what hits the fan, the MPD will be there to shoot us as we forage for food.

-Compiled by Mark Jordan with contributions from Ashley Fantz and Dennis Freeland.

-- David Waldrip (dwaldrip@aol.com), November 19, 1999

Answers

LINK

-- PJC (paulchri@msn.com), November 19, 1999.

Gawd! This is so depressing!!

Tell me this is a joke!

-- K. Stevens (kstevens@ It's ALL going away in January.com), November 19, 1999.

Nope, not a joke at all. As others have already said, John Q. Public is going to be very mad when he realizes he's been lied to.

-- David (dwaldrip@aol.com), November 19, 1999.

Serious stuff! Thanks for a revealing post.

-- Irving (irvingf@myremarq.com), November 19, 1999.

Sheesh. For once, words fail me. What the HELL???

-- preparing (preparing@home.com), November 19, 1999.

It's reminding me of Y2K: Year To Kill in which a little can of soup runs 20 bucks.

Those must be awfully high prices "due to shortages" the Memphis PD is speculating about.

Can we all say, "Hyperinflation?"

-- Paula (chowbabe@pacbell.net), November 19, 1999.

Paula... are you thinking what I'm thinking?

I wonder what the heck it's gonna be like in So Cal?

argh...

Mike

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-- Michael Taylor (mtdesign3@aol.com), November 20, 1999.

"I wonder what the heck it's gonna be like in So Cal?"

A gallon of water = $100

-- boy (am@i.thirsty), November 20, 1999.

honestly--i would NOT want to be John Koskinen after Jan. 1.

-- tt (xxxxxxxxx@xxxxx.com), November 20, 1999.