Carol’s Column

Ho hum, soon it will be the end of yet another era

There was on television the other evening an international expert on Y2K. I forget his name, so mesmerised was I by what he had to say. He wasn't, like many of his predecessors, in a state of panic. Instead, he spoke quietly and authoritatively.

With intelligence, he dismissed the various myths that are presently worrying people such as banks not having records of their savings, in other words, their fears that they would wake up to find their bank balances wiped out by a computer glitch.

He dismissed fears of international trading disasters for the same reason, making the point that most banks and institutions throughout the world were Y2K compliant.

The areas of alarm were noted such as the high care wards of hospitals where, although manufacturers had said their various machines were Y2K compliant, it was virtually impossible to test them due to the fact that they were in use by patients and besides, there was no way of telling if they'd function until the new century.

He did stress that manufacturers had said there would be no problems. The conclusion was that it would be better not to be attached to such a machine at this time.

Like most people, I haven't given the end of the century and the beginning of the new much serious thought other than to wonder where and how I'll be celebrating it.

And quite honestly, the thought of rushing off to a communal site to be stuck in a crush with a million people doesn't sound appealing. For instance, I'm sure the intended revelry in Times Square in New York will be fun, but have you ever stood in a mass of people not being able to move, wanting to use a cloakroom especially if you've been drinking champagne and you're stuck solid? It's not a happy thought.

There are parties and cruises, five-star balls and grand concerts. Nearer home, there are bush spectaculars with private game reserves offering celebrations among hippos and lions. Everywhere cities and towns are planning their own celebrations.

The one thing that did strike me listening to the Y2K expert was that he said categorically that although flying was relatively safe, there were parts of the world in which it was definitely advisable not to fly, and the main region in the no-go area was central Africa. The message? If you intend going up-continent, drive.

When I was a student, I remember reading about the fin de siècle. It seemed a romantic period, a time of glamour. There were splendid fin de siècle balls, grand fin de siècle concerts and magnificent fin de siècle happenings. It was only years later that I discovered that fin de siècle was literally French for the finish of the cycle, in other words, the end of the century. And now, suddenly, we're once more at fin de siècle time.

The differences this time round are notable. In the past century we've invented flight, discovered the atom, quantum physics and electronics, TV, penicillin and other antibiotics, digital cameras, micro-chips and computers, artificial insemination, radar, instant photography, transistors, microwaves, cross-fertilised vegetables and motorised transport.

What on earth can be in store for us during the next 100 years? Personalised space-age travel, exploration of the planets, the creation of alternative food supplies as well as sources of energy. And then there's the fascinating field of genetics.

In the sheep world we've cloned Molly, Dolly and Fred the goat. Then there are fruit flies whose lives have been extended and they're living to almost twice the length of their original span. So it seems natural to expect that there will be genetic redesign of the human kind with cloning of particularly perfect examples. The problem will be to decide what or who defines a "perfect" sample.

And then there's the quest for eternal youth. Last night on TV somebody posed the question: "Are YOU Y2K compliant?"

In the greater scheme of things – does it matter? As long as I'm around to see in the year 3000.

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