Y2K

December 31, 1999

"I think we bought up about half the store!" Jan exclaimed as she and Chelsea entered the house with their arms laden with plastic bags.

Ilya laughed. "I tell you, you have nothing to fear. Everything will work just fine tomorrow."

"If it doesn't, at least we'll have plenty of Easy Mac and Fruit Gushers.'

"Did someone say Fruit Gushers?" Gavin walked into the kitchen in his socks.

"Not until after dinner." Jan ruffled her eleven-year-old son's blond hair.

Gavin's eyes grew wide as he looked around. "Wow! Why did you get so much food this time?"

"The cash registers might not work for awhile after today," his older sister told him.

"Really? Why not?"

"Y2K," said Chelsea.

"What's that?"

"The first day of the new century."

"Oh, yeah! Can I stay up 'till midnight, Mom?" asked Gavin.

"Sure," said Jan.

"All right!" Gavin trotted into the living room, and soon the 'Pokemon' theme song wafted into the kitchen.

"I'm going to call Shanika," Chelsea announced after all the groceries had been put away. She went into her bedroom and called her best friend.

"Hey, girl!" said Shanika when she heard Chelsea's voice. "Are you staying up to ring in the New Year?"

"Yeah," Chelsea replied. "I just got back from shopping with Mom. We bought up a lot of extra stuff in case we can't go shopping for awhile."

"What are you talking about?"

"Mom's scared all the electronic stuff like cash registers and computers are gonna get messed up because of the new century starting. Dad says everything will be fine, but Mom says we need to be prepared for just in case."

"Well, your Dad's an engineer, so he ought to know," Shanika replied.

"Hey Mom, what's Y2K?" Lindsay asked as the family was eating dinner. "Some kids in school were talking about it before holiday break." The nine-year-old has recently begun to take an interest in current affairs.

"It's what happens tomorrow - the beginning of the new century," Cindy told her older daughter.

"Y2K! Y2K!" Rebecca chanted, banging merrily on the table top with her fork.

"You suppose what they say is really true?" Cindy asked her husband, who was reaching for the salad to serve himself a second helping.

"If it is, the radio station might have to go off the air for awhile until we can get everything up and running again," Gary replied. "But we don't know it will happen, so there's no point in worrying about it now."

"More 'sghetti!" Rebecca demanded. Spaghetti sauce was smeared all over her face as well as the table top and her clothes.

When the meal was over and the dishes had been cleared away, Cindy joined her husband in the living room, where he was watching the news.

"The President's working with FEMA to prepare for any complications," Gary told his wife.

In the corner, Rebecca and Lindsay were playing with Rebecca's doll house. Jan smiled as she watched them at play, thankful that they played so well together despite their seven-year age difference.

After awhile, Rebecca stuck out her lower lip and hurled a doll across the room.

"Looks like somebody's ready for a bath and bedtime," Cindy said as she scooped her younger daughter up and headed for the bathroom with her.

Jan sat glued to the television in the living room while Chelsea and Gavin watched movies together in Chelsea's bedroom and Ilya made White Russians in the kitchen. When he was finished, he took them into the living room and handed one to Jan.

"Thanks," she said. "Only a few minutes to go now." She nodded toward the television.

Soon the countdown began and the ball prepared to drop. As the New Year was announced, Jan and Ilya wished each other a happy New Year and clinked their glasses together.

"This time one hundred years ago, my country was still under Tsarists rule," said Ilya. "It is hard to believe, yes?"

"Absolutely!" Jan agreed. "People didn't even have televisions then, and now, most families have a computer for everyone school age or older." That reminded her. "I'd better check ours." She went to the computer and turned it on. She waited for it to power up, then clicked on a search engine. The screen came up just like it always did. She entered 'Y2K' into the search bar, clicked, and watched as a list of articles with 'Y2K' in them came up.

"It seems to be working fine," she told her husband.

Ilya grinned. "What did I tell you?"