The Year 2000 is Coming! :: Millenium New Year 2000 Essays

The Year 2000 is Coming! Here we are close to the dawn of the millennium. An even 2000 years has passed since man has decided to start counting. That has to be significant, doesn't it? Conspiracy theorists, self- proclaimed prophets, and doomsayers can take this opportunity to spread rumors of world destruction or take ancient prophecies and interpret them to their liking. Life must be getting boring or over stimulating for these folks. There are so many different groups spreading awareness in preparation for the millennium. One can obtain knowledge on this subject by contacting a group who call themselves TEOTWAWKI (an acronym for the end of the world as we know it), Armageddon, or on the countless Y2K websites. There are many people involved in the frenzy surrounding Y2K. We have a Y2K coalition right here in Arkansas. The citizens of Harrison have formed a group called Y2K watch. Around one hundred people meet bimonthly to discuss strategies for getting through the millennium. They have even attracted outsiders. Jerry and Carolyn Head moved from a Dallas suburb to Harrison to escape the millennia madness. They have stocked up buying a generator, livestock, and hundreds of toilet paper rolls. They claim to just be â€Å"planners† and not part of the Y2K worriers in which "most of them are nuts". Y2K,which stands for year 2000, is the confusion of our computer systems when the clock strikes 12:00 on January 1, 2000. When computers were first developed they were the size of small rooms and stored data on thousands of punch cards made out of cardboard. To save space, engineers used two digits to indicate the year. Now that we are approaching the year 2000, they realize the ambiguity of the year being 00 will apparently throw all of the computers off. Many people have declared this a disaster. One family in Ohio has really gone to extremes. They have bought the usual for survivalists, a generator and food (a years supply). In addition to this, they have invested in a waterbed in case the water companies crash and are unable to distribute water. Y2K drills are frequently practiced in the house to ensure all the appliances will work with the generator. The mother has tried to raise awareness among the community and cannot understand why the Girl Scout leader turned down her offer to lecture on the subject.