Good News: World Isn’t Ending

Here’s the latest scoop on the year 2000 computer glitch, according to a U.S. Senate panel and several other sources. First, and happily, you can forget the other cute acronym that has become a big part of the Y2K landscape: TEOTWAWKI, or “the end of the world as we know it.”

No worldwide meltdown is expected, although some unprepared nations could experience severe technological problems and social disruptions. The best advice is to give considerable thought to where you want to be at the end of this year, and that doesn’t mean the office New Year’s Eve party. Stay up on current events and choose your travel destinations wisely.

Your household appliances will work. Very few contain date-sensitive computer chips. Telecommunications will continue without major disruptions, the Telco Year 2000 Forum reported this week after six months of testing. Telco is a group representing the nation’s largest local telephone companies.

The nation’s electric grids will not collapse. The utilities industry, in fact, has been given good marks for preparedness, as has the banking industry. That’s according to a 163-page report of the Senate Special Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem. Some power outages are likely, but don’t panic. Just take the steps that most Americans have to take at least once in their lives. Consider Y2K as the next potential tornado, flood, hurricane or earthquake. Stock up on a few essentials, have some cash on hand and be prepared for some inconvenience.

Buying up isolated real estate and assault weapons, stockpiling gold and months of provisions and learning how to skin animals all fall into the realm of dramatic overreaction.

Trains won’t be switched en masse onto the wrong tracks and planes will not drop from the sky, although the Federal Aviation Administration needs to speed up its preparations. The worst might include flight cancellations, especially overseas flights.

The Internal Revenue Service was singled out for lethargy in the Senate report, which noted that taxpayers might receive incorrect tax notices or face longer waits for refund checks. So you could say that the worst news is that the April 15 filing deadline has not been postponed.

Stay calm and informed and act reasonably. That’s the best possible Y2K strategy.