I don't sense much concern about Y2K in D.C. and environs - except for this article. Was surprised to see this. I'm not familiar with Washington Times though. Only Washington Post.
Yeah, I was surprised to see that article as well. But given how DC's emergency services are already stressed by the prospect of hundred's of thousands of tourists coming to spend New Years on the national mall (to be carried live on CBS), these guys are going to be working a lot of overtime.
What's your sense of the mood around D.C.?
Relative indifference. In fact, the majority of conversations I had with people during my daily travels here seem to indicate a concern that I share; that of terrorist activity.
I know of many people who, like myself, will not dare venture into downtown DC for the festivities, but prefer to watch them from across the Potomac from Virgina (across the river from the Watergate is a prime spot) for fear of being in a prime terrorist target. Y2K is also being mentioned as a concern, but generally that folks expect more problems overseas than here.
People just recognize that a terroist organization would be hard put to find a better opportunity of capturing a worldwide audience, and they want to be no part of being on a potential firing line.
But also, folks are just completely unwilling to pay the extortionary prices that some hotels have been charing to attend their shindigs. I heard that Neil Sedaka was set to perform at one party that was recently canceled for lack of interest. I guess he'll be spending his guaranteed paycheck while on vacation somewhere.
What was also in that article (or in the Post) was that the DC Mayor made those statements because he felt that people would ignore warnings to buy ANY food at all if he only stated for them to prepare for a 3 day disruption. I guess it was just a shock effect.
But I'm not overly concerned about DC. Lord knows that most of the sytems are antiquated as they are and constantly breaking down (major water pipes bursting.. etc) that they have always been known as government that practices crisis management on a daily basis.
Btw, your example about the power outages in France caught my attention as well while reading the daily news. There are some 1.5 million people currently without power right now in Paris and they want to declare the city a disaster area.
After something like that, I have a feeling that Y2K will be the least of their worries.
Btw, I'm watching Koskinen's briefing from earlier today on CSPAN-2 right now. I understand he will be quite visible over the coming days.
Regards,
Ron |
