I ran into a neighbor at the local hardware store today. She was buying lamps and lamp oil and I overheard her talking about Y2K with the proprietor. I said that I didn't know she was concerned about Y2K and her reply was, "I wasn't all that concerned until a good friend of mine who has worked in the banking industry for 20 years told me to have plenty of cash on hand next January; she's doing Y2K work for the bank and she says the banking system is in great danger because of Y2K."

I run into this sort of information far too often not to take it seriously. If someone who is doing Y2K remediation work for a bank advises her friends to withdraw significant amounts of cash due to Y2K, that tells me that digital money is not safe. I'd have to be an utter fool to leave anything but a minimum balance in my accounts. How about you all?

-- cody varian (cody@y2ksurvive.com), September 07, 1999

Answers

Cody,

If you have a safe place to put it, the money is better in your actual possession than sitting as a bunch of digits on some bank computer. However, if even a small percentage of people go that route it will take down the banking system. But I guess you know that. I guess you also know that for the majority of people, the money isn't actually there in your account. That account is only an IOU from the bank to you. They can't possibly return all the account money to everyone, if it comes to that. The money just isn't really there. Rent the movie It's A Wonderful Life to get a basic education on bank deposits.

-- Gordon (gpconnolly@aol.com), September 07, 1999.

Uh, OK I'll bite. It wasn't clear from above that the 'friend of a friend' has been doing 'remediation' work.

But all that aside, it remains, at best, anecdotal evidence.

I'm not suggesting that all anecdotal evidence should be brushed aside. But it cannot be given the same weight as known, documented failures. That the people who work in a bank should be concerned is a good thing. I certainly share that concern but it doesn't come anywhere close to conclusive evidence.

I also have had my share of similar anecdotal experiences the past year but none of them have really been key in my decision to prepare myself and my family for limited disruptions in infrastructure.

The decision to prepare was based on my experience as a programmer, an assessment of my family's vulnerabilities, my determination to take responsibility for their safety and welfare, my perception of the way in which the media and the political establishment further their own interests, our collective inability to take the threat seriously, the late start most got on fixing the problems, and the interconnectedness of our culture's infrastructure.

If a few isolated banks died as nasty Y2K death, the FDIC will step in and life will be peachy. If failures should be massive and widespread, then the FDIC is completely irrelevant and the loss of your money will likely be the least of your trouble.

I'm not one cheering for the downfall of modern civilization. I'm much too deeply ingrained in it to wish its demise. I love this technology stuff. It's how I make my living. It's where my future lies. But as I said in an earlier post, information technology is in its infancy and accidents are bound to happen.

Make no mistake. The money I put in the bank belongs to me and no one else. I will do with it what I see fit. I earned it. It's mine. End of story. But I wouldn't base a decision on anecdotal evidence alone. I'd just as soon the banks kept running and the lights stayed on.

-- Arnie Rimmer (Arnie_Rimmer@usa.net), September 07, 1999.

Arnie: I didn't use the word "remediation" in quoting what the lady said because she didn't use the word. I did ask her if her friend was working on getting the bank's computers y2k-compliant and she said yes. This one anecdote alone is not something I would base a decision on, but coupled with what is already known about the global banking system's y2k vulnerability plus the alarm recently issued by the Bank Of Internation Settlements in Switzerland, plus what my own bank's manager has told me, plus a great deal of other information, there is no way that I would leave any but a bare minimum of funds in the banking system.

-- cody (cody@y2ksurvive.com), September 07, 1999.

my brother-in-laws best friend works for the government. and this friend over heard at the water cooler that one of the secretaries has a husband whose brother works at a pet food store. and she said that she was told that last week a y2k remediation programmer came in and bought a 1000 pounds cat food for his cat.

the end must be near !

-- Guns, Grub & Gold (home@the city.com), September 07, 1999.

My my,

Notice how the banking posts always seem to flush out the trolls? (forum disrupters). Cash will be fairly worthless if (when IMO) the banking system crashes. Food never goes out of style. Neither does coffee or cigarettes. There is no question that imports from China will cease as will imports from most countries. Invest in tangible goods. That way WHEN the economy tanks you will have items of intrinsic value. Paper money won't be good for diddly when the global market crashes.

-- R (riversoma@aol.com), September 07, 1999.

You know, Guns, Grub and Gold, there are some people, such as yourself, that won't be missed at all if they don't survive Y2K.

-- cody (cody@y2ksurvive.com), September 07, 1999.

cody,

You've been here a while, and I have found no reason to doubt anything that you post. Anecdotal evidence, true. But, shouldn't be brushed aside, also true.

I told the forum a few months ago, when I purchased a $10,000.00 18 month CD. I figure that if it ain't "fixed" by 2001, money won't matter much. It's a gamble that I may regret.

The computer business has been pretty good to me. That 10 large is a small percentage of what I've managed to put "in the bank." Most of it just won't be there, for a short while, I hope.

I'm with you Arnie. I love this stuff too...

Tick... Tock... <:00=

-- Sysman (y2kboard@yahoo.com), September 07, 1999.

Arnie--

Well said.

Cody--

:>) Soooo true.

-- Scarlett (ohara@tara.net), September 07, 1999.

In the same vein, had a co-worker arrive at work this morning in a huff because his bank was closed due to computer problems, and then he went to the pharmacy and they told him his card had expired. He was so distraught and I couldn't even spit the words y2k out of my mouth,..I just kept laughing and saying "that's...that's...that's..." hehehe.

-- kritter (kritter@adelphia.net), September 07, 1999.

R... So true about the rapidity with which the banking trolls pop out of the ground like mushrooms on any bank thread. They protest far too much and far too quickly.

Heard a good sermon lately?

-- Mike Lang (webflier@erols.com), September 07, 1999.

bought a 1000 pounds cat food for his cat.

Naw, the end'll be here when he buys 1000 pounds cat food for himself.

-- Count Vronsky (vronsky@anna.com), September 08, 1999.