From the Present:

If it weren’t for Y2K, I would have eaten far less instant mashed potatoes. My parents bought into the hype that something big and apocalypse-ish could strike when the numbers rolled over from 1999 to 2000. So they stalked up on what provisions our family would need should something like that occur. Apparently they thought we needed instant mashed potatoes…An entire shelf in our basement of instant mashed potatoes.

Then… nothing happened and mashed potatoes became a side dish to every dish.

Other families faced worse fates. One that we knew in the ‘homeschool’ circuit had a father who was a computer guy. He was adamant that something big was going to happen and went around speaking about it, convincing people to purchase generators. When nothing happened, he moved his family to Texas shortly after.

I filled almost a dozen pages in my journal that New Years. On one page I even pressed my pin pricked finger to preserve a small stain of my blood from the day. A new millenium was nothing my 14 year old self took lightly. I remember going to church with my parents that night, and also going to another homeschool family’s bon-fire event.

This was the last New Years I spent entirely with my family and not with friends. At the time I remember wishing I had a group of friends (that included girls my age) to trounce about around town with. I’d get my wish the next year, and every year after that. I guess this was the time in my life where I was approaching the “end of innocence.” In so many ways, I was still just a kid. I loved collecting insects and frogs and wore ridiculous clothes combinations that I didn’t think twice about.

I also remembered carving “2000” into my bed frame that night, wanting to preserve what I knew to be a momentous event not just for me, but for the world.

Posted below are some of my journal entries from New Years Eve 1999, A.K.A, Y2K.

Jan. 1 2000 – Age 14

From the Past: Wow, a new century. Even though I think ya, this is the millenium, I am saving my partying for next year. I’ll just say I think 2001 is the millennium. 

The Y2K bug doesn’t seem to be biting at all. But only time will tell if he is completely extinguished. 

www.2Points4Honesty.com

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