What the Year 2000 Could be Like

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Your alarm clock rings on the first business day of the Year 2000, and you expect this day to be like any other. Always the worrywart, you're staying off of airplanes and you pulled your cash out of the bank, plus the IT department at your company solved the millennium problem months ago. But if the public agencies in your area haven't addressed the Year 2000 glitch, you could be in for a surprise. The following is, of course, an absolute worst-case scenario, but parts of it could be coming to town near you and are based on actual fears expressed by agencies across the U.S.:

7 a.m. You wake up and hop in the shower. You notice a funny smell. Obviously your local water agency's treatment facility didn't fix the millennium bug.

8 a.m. You head for the subway, only to find that Y2K snafus have halted trains for the day.

8:30 a.m. You return home to get your car and drive to work. Red lights are flashing at all of the intersections because the systems weren't Year 2000-compliant.

9 a.m. Somebody runs one of the flashing red lights in front of you, crashing into another car. You get out to call 9-1-1, but the emergency system doesn't work.

10 a.m. You finally get to work and have a meeting with partners in the new company you're starting. Unfortunately, the state has lost its records on incorporated companies and cannot process your request.

Noon. You go to lunch. It's your treat because your companion didn't receive his social security check. You hold your breath while the restaurant runs your credit card - expiration date 9/00.

2 p.m. You head for the county hospital, where you've scheduled a minor surgery. Things are in disarray because medical devices have failed throughout the day.

4 p.m. The hospital, which has lost all of its appointments, finally admits you. An embedded chip in the elevator fails, and the assistants must drag you and your gurney up the stairs.

6 p.m. You drive to the state college to check the grade for a class you took last semester, the last of your pre-MBA requirements. Unfortunately it's been lost, and there is no record of you ever having taken the class.

7 p.m. You go home to call a friend and complain about your day, but the telephone line is dead because the company hasn't tackled the Year 2000 glitch.

But then again, maybe you won't experience any of it. If your electric company isn't Year 2000-compliant, you might sleep through your alarm.




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