That’s right, I’m talking about Y2K.
Sure, you were going to look mighty sharp sporting those argyles, but what good does that do you while you’re shoveling mud out of a pit and building up the defenses of your compound in an effort to fortify yourself against the hordes of looters that were sure to be roving the country side with only hunger and bloodlust as their companions?
As you know, Y2K never happened and so there we all were, clamped down in our bunkers wondering what we were going to do with all of this ammunition and cans of baked beans.
Me, I traveled the Appalachians for a couple of weeks, and quickly sold my stock. Luckily, the mountain people were still readying themselves for the onslaught.
“I appreciate you taking this off my hands, but you know now that 2000 is here, all of this Y2K business is nothing to be afraid of anymore,” I said, always honest to a fault.
“Y2 what now?” was their reply.
I simply smiled good-naturedly and bid them great success in the future. I will always remember my time with the mountain people fondly.
So, as the ball dropped in Times Square and the calendar page was turned to reveal a “20” instead of a “19” the world didn’t end. The computers, who apparently were now our quiet overlords, still kept computing, and the market share for high-grade weaponry and abandoned lots of land were returned to the domain of Rush Limbaugh listeners.
Of course, something bad did happen in the 2000’s, lots of things, really; 9/11, the war in Iraq, Katrina, the war in Afghanistan, the collapse of our entire economic system, and of course, American Idol.
The question, as we stand in the doorway of 2010, is what now?
“Maybe we really should start building bunkers and loading up on guns and ammo again,” you’re thinking, “ I just know Obama can’t wait to take that away from us, along with our freedom and turn this country into some kind of Communist wasteland where everyone dies of old age because we can’t shoot each other and we all have excellent health care. Holy shit, I’m going to go order the Dirty Harry box set off of Amazon!”
Whoa, settle down.
No one is going to take away your guns. Everyone in America is too stup..er, independent for that. And while we there may be a health care bill that passes, don’t worry, it will be too washed down and weak to be of much help to anybody.
One thing we should understand, however, is this: Bad shit is going to happen this decade. Just as it happened last decade and just like it has happened for every decade since we climbed down from the trees.
The lesson we should be taking from the last decade is quite simple. Our economy is where it is because of greed. Our situation in the Middle East is because we let our fear cloud our thinking. Katrina was bad because we stopped thinking about the less fortunate. What we should remember are those few days after 9/11 when we truly pulled together as a country. We mourned for strangers living a thousand miles away and ordinary people going out of their way to help strangers lifted our hearts. The lesson we should be taking from the 2000s as we enter this new decade is this quote from Kurt Vonnegut, “Goddamn, you must be kind to one another.”
In the Aftermath of 9/11 we saw that we could become united for the greater good and that is the one great gift we got from the passing decade.
Oh, and iPods! I don’t even know how I got on without one!
