I just got off the phone with a very good friend who has always seemed to be willing to get it (WTGI?). She has been "planning" to do some preps real soon now, and is often asking me what's new in Y2K. Today's conversation was quite different, though, because the "9999 thing" went ok, so Y2K must be all fixed now. It didn't take long for me to realize that no matter what I told her, she was not going to get it. Now she is like all of my friends, family, and collegues: Can not, will not, get it.

Here is the point: Y2K is complex, and it is only understood after countless hours of research. I have been online looking into it since June of 1998, and it is the complexity of it that has motivated me to prepare. It won't take very many failures to cause major disruptions around the world. I think that even the Pollies here get it, but they think 'it' just won't affect them. (I don't mean to speak for the Pollies, this is just my opinion.)

I cannot give to others the understanding that I have of the problem and its risks. I cannot show them all of Cory's writings, or make them follow Diane's great links, or even to log on to Scary Gary North every day. I cannot force them to study the Senate hearing transcripts, or to read the IEEE, Paula Gordon, or Jim Lord. They will not take the time to compare the Y2K Ready statements of utility co's and of government agencies with other information that is readily available. They are not able to invest the time to determine the risk.

Instead they wave their four color glossy inserts that arrive inside their bank statements and their electric bills and proclaim that all is well. Goddamn I hope they are right.

So tell me, what do you tell people? People you care about. People who have a lot to lose. I ask you because I know that many of you deal with this very thing, and you must have developed some sort of approach. I am seriously considering keeping my mouth shut completely from this point on. You would be amazed at how many people think they can come to my house if things get bad. And about a dozen families think I am spending New Years Eve at their house. I am their contingency plan. Sound familiar?

-- semper paratus (lay_low@mouth.shut?), September 12, 1999

Answers

Last Christmas I bought my family members (not all are GI's) sleeping bags, oil lamps, wicks, candles, etc...This year I will be sending them similar types of prep items...

The only ones who I have been able to convince that y2k may cause some disruptions, are those that I was able to get to view the c-span tape from June 2, 1998 from the Center for Strategic and International Studies..."Y2K - a Global Ticking Time Bomb." This featured Senator Bennett, Dr. Ed Yardeni and others...

http://www.csis.org/html/y2k.html

-- mmmm (mmmm@aol.com), September 12, 1999.

I came to a realization early on (Spring 1998) that if Y2K turned out only half as bad as I think that it will, it is impossible for everyone at large to prepare for. With this in mind, I pretty much kept my personal contacts regarding Y2K small.

Since having re-located to the country (Spring 1999), I have told nobody here that I am preparing, other than two people that I trust. It is just dumb, in my opinion, to tell people who will not or cannot prepare, and thereby expose yourself. At the same time, that is why I try to post here, so that I can at least encourage people to prepare for Y2K ... safely.

-- Jack (jsprat@eld.net), September 12, 1999.

I tell everyone I meet, rather apoligetically, why I think their lives are going to be ruined in the coming year. It's the crux of nearly everything that people naturally discuss and I feel I can't avoid it--unless I have no respect for them.

I spoke with a Turkish journalist tonight who never even heard of Y2K before! I spoke to a musician who had no idea that it is going to be a problem. At least I put the thought into their minds. I hope the next time they hear something, they go out and prepare.

-- Mara Wayne (MaraWayne@aol.com), September 12, 1999.

Wow Mara, you must be a big hit on the wedding circuit.

-- Yuk (yuk@yuk.yuk), September 12, 1999.

Mara

Wish I had a friend like you - no-one has called me up to warn me about y2k....have any of your friends warned you about it?

-- mmmm (mmmm@aol.com), September 12, 1999.

The fact is that, rich people are what those, y2k things on y2k are for. They are the one with money, not most americans. I haven't had any problems in my area with telling people to stock up, they tell me they are all ready doing it . Guess there aren't many peope in our area with money to spare.

-- ET (bneville@zebra.net), September 12, 1999.

When I first GI, I talked to everyone. Reception was initial interest followed by "I talked to my (accountant, doctor, lawyer, neighbor, brother, cousin) and s/he said that it was all hype. I hope you're not planning to do anything drastic, are you?" My response then was to ask about the credibility of said (insert). Now I merely ask them if if they think that preparing for an ice storm like the one they had in Quebec is drastic. Most think that it is, but feel foolish admitting that preparing for something which we know happens is too drastic. If I feel that they might actually be persuadable, I suggest that since I have fire insurance despite a *very* small likelihood of home fire I feel that a Y2K insurance which is mostly edible and usable whichever way it turns out is a comfort to me. Generally this is met with embarrassed silence.

-- T the C (tricia_canuck@hotmail.com), September 12, 1999.

You do feel bad when people don't listen, but I realized a long time ago that people are either too ignorant to comprehend Y2K, or they just don't care. I don't think it's ignorance because there's people from all different educational backgrounds that GI. So, I think it must be that people just don't give a rats ass. Because they don't care and do not want to believe that anything bad will happen to them, I'm leaving it up to the government now to tell them. I have fulfilled my obligation to warn others and there's no need to sound like a broken record. But I do know one thing, WTSHTF they will remember you and don't be surprised if they show up on your door step. What do you plan to tell them then?

-- bardou (bardou@baloney.com), September 12, 1999.

I started studying the problem last June, too, (GN's interview on Art Bell was the kickoff.) Like many others, I told everybody about the potential disaster we might all be facing in the beginning, including talking at city council meetings, interviews in publications, held 8 weeks of meetings, went on radio and TV a few times, told friends and relatives. From the beginning I was focusing on someone's thesis, that the more neighbors you got in on this the better it would be for everyone, including myself, who would not have to deal with potential PANIC if everyone didn't prepare. As it became obvious that VERY FEW were interested in listening or preparing I started shutting up more and more, and don't say anything anymore unless someone asks. In the past two months or so, only one person has ventured to ask me anything, this about how much food I had stored and about the pump in my front yard. She hasn't done one days shopping for y2k, lives two blocks away. I didn't want to answer, it being at a dinner table with others there, also none of whom have prepared. A difficult situation, heh? I told her to plan for 6 months. She gasped. She again asked how much I had put away. I said one year. Further gasps, some quiet looks which are hard to interpret. I said, finally, enough to get me through one growing season, and the harvest thereof. The water pump, I explained, is producing water, but seeing as how it is in town, which usually means there are pesticides and herbicides in it, it may not be good to drink. I dug it for watering the garden. I haven't had time to get it tested yet. I have another water source for drinking, two springs in town + another property outside of town with its great solar water system. Anyway, I send this on to you, for what it's worth. I would have much rather this all been in the open, a sharing/caring project with all my neighbors and friends. Now? I, too, think many must be planning to be invited to our place in case "it turns out to be true". I haven't figured out what to do about them if they arrive. I can help a few a few times, but not the mob that hasn't prepared. I figure way less than 1% of our area has done any preparations at all. Good luck to all of us on the bind we may all feel more and more with those we care about, for what do we tell them and what do we do with them if they wind up on our front steps? It's the thing I hate worst about y2k!!!!!

-- mostly silent (mums@the.word), September 13, 1999.

Bardou, we always get back to keeping quiet, don't we? it's been some months since I mentioned what my dad told me about English hoarding laws in WWII. Just suppose, you guys out there, just suppose that the supermarket supply chain is disrupted, that some shortages develop. It may be just a few items. Let's say it's our most popular stash items: toilet paper and coffee. Let's throw in some other foreign-produced stuff too--sugar, tea, cinnamon, bananas, gas--yeah! Gas.

So shortages of these things develop. Okay, I doubt you're stashing regular bananas (and if you are I WILL send you a tinfoil hat), so let's say you have, um, a hundred rolls of TP, 40lbs of coffee, 60lbs of sugar, 20lbs of tea, a pound of cinnamon and 10 5-gallon cans of gas in the shed down the backyard. You feel very good. Then the government says, we want to discourage a black market so here's a list of scarce items and the quantities you might in regular times be expected to have on hand. Anything over that is hoarding. Oh-oh!

No? It happened in England in the early days of the war; the government said nobody could have more than two days of food in the house, and violators were arrested and fined, their stocks confiscated. How did the government know who had a stash? Their less prudent friends, relatives and neighbors turned them in.

Dad doesn't remember if the government involved was local or national--he thinks national because he was involved in local politics at the time and is sure he would have remembered if it had been local. In any event, hoarding laws WERE passed and stashes WERE confiscated.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), September 13, 1999.

Tell them you ate and gave away all the food you were going to store, because they had convinced you that you were nuts. Continue with, I had three days worth of food and water, just like the government told me to have, but I have eaten and drank that, too. Act like you are panicing, need information on where shelters are, food & water distribution sites, ask what have they heard or seen....

Then go inside heat up some good chile and down a cold beer, toss another log on the fire, enjoy your preps!

-- Bill (y2khippo@yahoo.com), September 13, 1999.

"When you are in state of nonacceptance, it's difficult to learn. A clenched fist cannot receive a gift, and a clenched grasped tightly against the reality of what must not be accepted cannot easily receive a lesson." John Roger

-- quoter (quoter@quoterr.com), September 13, 1999.

Old Git: I suppose all of us are in the same boat. It's going to be interesting to see the tanks drive up to our homes and demand our beans and rice. If one has thought this whole thing through, you wouldn't have all your stuff in one spot. I'd be highly pissed if they got my wine though. Maybe I'll just keep a couple bottles of Ripple and Thunderbird around to make them happy.

-- bardou (bardou@baloney.com), September 13, 1999.

OLD GIT I really like you have good advive. I say keep your mouth zipped, don't tell neighbors or friends what you are doing unless they are with you in the prepts. Otherwise if anyone asks you are dumb.Hear no evil, see no evil, do no evil. Well," I guess someone else done it". Always act dumb when confronted with a bad situation. Dumb is a best fall back. It has worked in my part country for along time.

-- ET (bneville@zebra.net), September 13, 1999.

Preparing for y2k makes me think of living in California and earthquake preps.The possibility of earthquakes are a known danger by all that live there but,most people have not even put away extra water,flashlights and first aid kit.

When I lived in Simi Valley and the Northridge EQ hit,I was the one passing out candles and water from my storage room.I had tried before to have people prepare for EQ's and people thought I was over reacting.Of course I talked to a few people about y2k,some that got it and the others looked at me like I was a loon.I have decided to just keep my mouth shut now.I have one girl friend that lives in California and has prepared but if it gets really bad she knows she can come here and stay with me.

Y2K is going to effect the whole world

-- maggie (aaa@aaa.com), September 13, 1999.

Hi maggie! I moved from Moorpark last year, and still have family in Simi. Where did you relocate to? The quake experience helped me realize how staying there could be a very bad idea.

I think people do not 'get' Y2K or other potential dangers, not because they are too ignorant or uninformed, but because they do not 'want' to get it. I know I didn't want to, but have a quirky personality that wants the truth, come hell or high water. I forced myself to do hours and hours of research to compare the polly and doomer views. It made me sick and angry, but hey, so what? I try to tell people that say they don't want to think about it,- Hey, what about when you don't have a choice? - I prefer to respond rather than react whenever possible. I want to slap some people that I love. I have spent a lot of time and money copying and printing, making phone calls. They don't WANT to know. They WANT everything to be okay. In their minds, what they want is what will be. The government knows that, and uses it. We are like sheep. Truthfully, I could accept their complacency much better if they did the research, and then based on that, made their decision. Instead, they refuse to apply critical thinking and analysis, and just glom on to some vague reassurances that pacify them.

Old Git, I never knew about the hoarding laws you just told us about, but it is exactly what I suspected could happen. I think that we have to be quiet about our preparations. Don't share about them with anyone you would not trust WITH YOUR LIFE because that is what it may come down to. Definitely find another place to store a good part of it, and tell those neighbors that because the reports have been so good, that you have just been eating your supplies and donated the rest to a food kitchen. Then keep a storage place visible with about a month's worth of food, whatever you can live with having confiscated, and maybe 'accidentally' let them see that. I do expect people to rat on other people, and think the govt. will reward them for doing so. Sad!! Thanks for posting that Old Git, I am going to pass it on to many.

-- Mumsie (Shezdremn@aol.com), September 13, 1999.

Mumsie, HI! Glad to hear from someone from my old neighborhood.After the earthquake,my husband died,lived in a hotel for over a year and getting my house repaired,In 1995 I moved to a small town, about 120 miles south of Kansas City,Mo.

I had done the same thing as you,made copies of information on y2k and sent to friends and lots of long distance phone calls.Out of three people in California one got it.By the way one of my sisters lives in Simi.

-- maggie (aaa@aaa.com), September 13, 1999.

Mumsie, where did you move to?

-- maggie (aaa@aaa.com), September 13, 1999.

Hi again Maggie,... we moved to northern Idaho. Feel free to use my email addy if you want to chat "homey".

-- Mumsie (Lotsakids@home.com), September 13, 1999.

Maggie, use the Shezdremn@aol.com

-- Mumsie (Shezdremn@aol.com), September 13, 1999.

Delete please my second message.

-- maggie (aaa@aaa.com), September 13, 1999.

I have an aunt that would go outside and mow the lawn if she saw a tornado at the other end of it!!!!! She is 85 and has no fear of anything. I had her watch the c-span program that had Jim Lord and Paula Gordon on. She wouldn't move away from the tv. Try to get a tape of it. Might work.

-- FLAME AWAY (BLehman202@aol.com), September 13, 1999.

Maggie,

You're relatively close to us. My e-mail is real if you'd like to chat. : )

-- Wilferd (WilferdW@aol.com), September 13, 1999.

I've found that the people who are going to "get it," already have. Those who've waited this long to think, understand, and prepare, but haven't, probably won't "get it" until something happens. Now we're all hoping that nothing will happen, but the odds of nothing happening are pretty slim. I think the best the folks who haven't prepared can hope for is that whatever happens, happens far away.

-- JD (JDMac@aol.com), September 13, 1999.

Hoarding laws are easier to impose, & confiscations easier to perform, in a country w/o guns. Here in the U.S. every third household has at least one weapon. Some of us are seriously armed. I just learned that another of my new neighbors are "gun people." I don't know if they're preparing or not. But either way, you better not mess with them, or there will be bloodshed. Even their 10-year old knows how to shoot a rifle.

-- pry it from my (cold@dead.fingers), September 13, 1999.

To those who've been around awhile, the owls have beaten the roosters 42 to zip.

-- Dave (aaa@aaa.com), September 13, 1999.

Y2k was easy sharing compared to the communist threat.

Like you said semper, to get turned around you need to stop and read and listen. Most people won't do it. I bring it up, keep it going as long as a wall doesn't go up. When the goes up I shut up.

One day the disciples asked Jesus why He spoke in parables in Matthew 13. Some people have ears that hear, others don't, was His response. The sower and the seed comes to mind in Luke 15. He said there are four types of hearers. Only one allows the word to get planted.

What amazes me are the ones who agree with me yet do nothing.

-- BB (peace2u@bellatlantic.net), September 13, 1999.

It's dangerous to tell people anything. Whether they believe you or not, they'll remember what you said and when TSHTF, your house will be the first place they go. Is that what you want?

-- (its@coming.soon), September 13, 1999.

By the way, no one knows where I live or where I'm moving to, so that is not an issue for me. I don't mention it to people in my building, but if I do, I simply say I'm going to Florida or rollover. THerefore, I don't think all that matters. The only thing I thing is a problem are the very large deliveries from the grocery store, should any of the delivery people remember. However, I doubt if they will... So, yes, secrecy counts--unfortunately.

I WAS alerted to Y2K by a friend and I thought she was nuts. She's someone who always talks about seeing flying saucers--literally. BUt then I began to investigate!!!!! Prepare, the end is at hand.

-- Mara Wayne (MaraWayne@aol.com), September 13, 1999.

Pry, Virtually all farmers and a goodlynumbe4r of country people had shotguns and rifles when WWII hit. Many town people had weapons left over from their service in WWI. I suspect the majority went along with the confiscation because patriotism was at an all-time high and it was the patriotic thing to do to prevent black marketeers making a bundle. Dad lived in a small village at the time, communicatiosn then were not what they are now, so he doesn't know how things went in the rest of the country. I do know my painfully honest and animal-respecting dad had to resort to nicking veggies from farm fields and poaching rabbits from a nearby estate. Food was VERY short and rationing continued until 1957.

The point is, don't invite confrontation or, rather, do take steps to avoid confrontation where at all possible. Discretion truly is the better part of valor. Bear the account in mind and do as suggested--scatter your supplies if you can. The odds are that hoarding laws will never be imposed--but it's just one more detail you won't have to worry about. And I'm all for reducing stress!

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), September 13, 1999.

> So tell me, what do you tell people?

Not much anymore. It's too dangerous.

Oh, I do tell friends that they should have at least a months worth of food and water at home and that it's prudent but that's it. I live in a very rural area and since I moved here about a year ago I've only invited one person up here so my exposure is limited in that respect. There are about 5 neighbors within a 1 mile radius of my home; of them 3 have made preps (meaningful ones?).

Sure, what have my neighbors told anyone? Unknown. We do have plans to drop a tree across the access road (and a tractor to move it as needed) if need be. One of our strategies has been regular target practice sessions, 2 or 3 times per week. Rather sounds like a fire fight in progress. Besides the obvious issue of marksmanship this is a way of sending a vieled message to folks in the surrounding area "the folks up the hill have guns of various types and practice a lot - if you try to rip them off it might be a bit dangerous to your health".

One of our neighbors in the canyon (quite a ways off) wrote a letter to the editor of the local paper complaining about having moved to the country for peace and quiet only to have to listen to neighbors "shooting up a storm" several times a week which upsets her. I gather our plan is working.

I hear from folks that they have had friends tell them "we know where we're going if we need food (etc.)". By limiting ther number of folks who know where I live I've short circuited that a bit but I do hear it on occasion. I generally tell them "well, you'd have to know where I live, which you don't and besides, you'd have to get by my trigger happy neighbors first - lead poisoning is a real bitch". If we have problems with "trespassers" come Y2K I don't think they'll be my friends.

nuff said....DCK

-- Don Kulha (dkulha@vom.com), September 13, 1999.

If you think you can feed the starving masses,you will become the starving masses.Everybody dies sometime.

-- zoobie (zoobiezoob@yahoo.com), September 13, 1999.