Granted, there are four more months in 1999, but quite frankly, I’m tired as hell of hearing about “The Y2K Crisis,” “The Y2K Bug,” and all of the other gibberish that goes along with it. Despite what many people — especially religious radical Gary North — think, this is not the apocalypse. Neither the nation nor the world will enter into a quick and massive downward spiral that will lead to our demise. This is a simple computer issue that can — and will — be resolved.

My feelings on this issue — not crisis — span the gamut from absolute frustration to complete disbelief at some people’s total idiocy. Let me begin by establishing my credentials. I work in the IS department for a large national company. I see and hear this stuff first hand everyday. My coworkers say the following about Y2K paranoia, and I quote: “It’s all a bunch of hogwash. It’s made out to be more than it needs to be,” and “[Y2K is] (T)otally blown out of proportion. There will be definite problems, but they won’t be so catastrophic as to bring a company that’s prepared for it to its knees.”

And that’s the point: “…a company that’s prepared for it…” Businesses have seen this coming for years. The problem first cropped up in 1970 when banks tried to calculate 30-year mortgages. The federal government learned about it when they tried to calculate military benefits for the year 2000. Where I work, we have a large team dedicated to finding how Y2K will affect the various parts of our business and fixing them. About 90 to 95 percent of the issues have already been identified and fixed. Granted, the IS department has been denied vacation for the months of December and January, and there will be numerous people on site 24/7 during critical times “just in case.” While it came as a bit of a shock at first, it makes sense. We are prepared for Y2K, but there is that small chance that something might happen. I assure you it won’t bring the company to its knees, let alone set off the mass devastation that many people anticipate.

Earlier this year, Lt. Gov. Mark Schweiker accepted a contribution from the AT&T Foundation aimed at “helping the state meet the challenge of eliminating the Y2K problem.” The source of this information noted that “while most of the state’s critical computer systems have been modified to deal with the problem, the state is in the midst of a major public awareness campaign to ensure that small businesses, local governments, schools, and private citizens are equally prepared for the new millennium.” A noble effort indeed. However, as we all know, there still exists the ignorant few, and ignorance leads to paranoia. Those who are making the most of this are the ones who truly don’t understand it nor have any faith in the professionals who are working to resolve it. The Internet is replete with naysayers who espouse the need to hoard water, food, kerosene lanterns, wood stoves, generators, and even weapons. www.utne.com even offers a “Y2K Citizens Action Guide” complete with disaster preparation recommendations from FEMA!

Furthermore, people are already calling this a crisis. It hasn’t even happened yet! The truth is that it’s an ISSUE that CAN be modified to REDUCE, if not eliminate, its severity. Let’s look at this another way. I’m sure there are still people in Central PA who grew up during the Great Depression. We’re talking stock market crash, depleted economy, food rations. I’m also sure that there are people in the area who remember the flood of 1972 caused by hurricane Agnes. Gee, let’s ask Gov. Ridge, he’s living in a structure that was navigated by BOATS at the time. And how about the infamous event in March of 1979? Yes, TMI. My family didn’t even leave and I’m here to talk about it. The fact is that this state and this country have endured much greater problems than a computer glitch — AND SURVIVED THEM ALL.

A recent column by “Ask Marilyn” columnist Marilyn Vos Savant aptly noted that business problems can have human consequences: strikes cause financial hardships and product failures can occasionally cause injury. But, she points out, this is life. Not the most pleasant part of life, but life nonetheless. There may be a slight chance that power will fail temporarily, or that stocks will waver, but “any serious consequences will be scattered and only temporary.”

Which brings us to Gary North. North, a radical Christian Reconstructionist, is trying to tie the whole Y2K issue to religion. In his view, it is essential for the future of man to meld church and state by recapturing “every institution for Jesus Christ.” On one web page I saw carried the following quote by North, “This will decentralize the social order. That is what I have wanted all of my adult life. In my view, Y2K is our deliverance.” Flat out, this man has devoted a hell of a lot of effort to inducing the doom and gloom theory of Y2K. It’s because of people like him that this non-event is being made into a catastrophe. He’s not selling anything, he’s not running for political office. He’s just instilling the fear of God (quite literally) into the uninformed.