I'm gratified to be able to get all this information about preparing for the big day and maybe a few months after, but what then? What REALLY scares me is not the idea of roving bands of thugs and empty shelves, I can prepare for that, what scares the hell out of me is the collapse of the economy, long term depression, and how the hell am I going to make a living?

As Gary North puts it: if your job description didn't exist in 1945, it probably won't in 2001.

If one stops for a moment to project the possible long-term consequences of a bankrupted government (IRS issues), the collapse of even 15% of businesses, etc.....well, anyone know where a person could get their hands on a couple of cyanide pills to add to their preparation planning?

But even barring that, who besides the most wealthy (who have turned their wealth to gold and moved to a private island) and the most thoroughly self-sufficient (own their own land, farm it, essentially live like Amish) can hope to see even the dimmest of lights at the end of the tunnel? I have never been anything like a critical contributer to society, but society could afford to employ me in ways that kept it amused. I'm growing acutely aware of how disposable I am in a crunch.

Does anyone have words of comfort for this poor middle-aged lass freaking out about her future? (Which until I woke up a few months ago included a big, beautiful wedding in April 2000. My first. You know I'm REALLY happy about all this. And yeah, my fiance is only slightly less useless than me.)

-- Hester Nash (stoid@pacbell.net), September 26, 1998

Answers

Hester: Everyone is dispensable, we have no guarantee that any of us will be here today or tomorrow. Live for today, plan as if you will be here tomorrow. If we think that everyone will be out of work, that is a myth. People will be out of work because of civil unrest. It takes money to make money. Those in business depend on others to keep their business going. What good is gold if there's nothing to spend it on? I won't trade my food and water for gold. If I barter at all, it will be for something that I can use today to make my life a little easier. We all have built into us a need to survive. The Amish to it because they choose to live that way. We can do it because we will have to if we want to live. As for a cynide pill....not for me, I want to see how it all plays out.

-- Bardou (bardou@baloney.com), September 26, 1998.

Bardou...same here. No cyanide pill. I saw the end result of James Jones and his followers in Guyana! What a terrible scenario. Blondie

-- Blondie Marie (Blondie@future.net), September 26, 1998.

I don't believe that "if your job description didn't exist in 1945, it probably won't in 2001." That's a blanket statement, and blanket statements are rarely true. I'm a PC Technician. There was no such thing in 1945. Yet, I don't see everyone putting all their PCs in the dumpster in Jan. of 2000. (If they did, I'd take up dumpster-diving.) I just can't believe that this is TEOTWAWKI. I see trouble coming, even a chance for long periods of unrest. But the companies that can keep their businesses running, and running efficiently will do well. Computers add efficiency. Maybe everyone else will go back to using paper and pencil, but if the power's on, I'll use a PC.

-- Mike (gartner@execpc.com), September 26, 1998.

More thoughts:

Every job I've ever had, I have had to learn. If necessary, I can learn a new one. You'll have a real advantage here if you know how to work. I don't mean standing around in some store in the mall, leaning on the counter, and chit-chatting - that's not work. Or sitting on the line, and reading a book, because some machine isn't feeding you any parts - that's not work either. I'm not knocking those types of jobs, but some of the people who get paid to do those jobs would have trouble getting along if they really had to work and be responsible. I've always worked in small businesses, and I know that if SOMEONE doesn't WORK, I will have no job.

-- Mike (gartner@execpc.com), September 26, 1998.

Mike is right. My job description didn't exist either in 1945 (heck, <> didn't exist in 1945!)and I've had to learn the specifics of every job I've ever had.

One concept to remember is that of transferrable skills. If you look at those skills instead of job-specific skills, you've got tons of skills. Transferrable skills are basic skills like being able to prioritize tasks, good eye-hand coordination, being able to teach others/mentor, being able to follow directions well, being able to think of new ways to do things...it's not whether you have x job realted skills, but whether the basic underlying skills are there.

If you want more information on this, check out the book "The Three Boxes of Life and how to get out of them, by Richard Bolles. It's a book for people who want "an introduction to life/work planning".

-- Karen Cook (browsercat@hotmail.com), September 26, 1998.

Wow, let me see if I can put to work what you guys taught me. Karen made this thread go into italics, maybe I can fix it?

-- Gayla Dunbar (privacy@please.com), September 26, 1998.

Thank-you, thank-you, I owe it all to Donna Barthuley!! :-)

-- Gayla Dunbar (privacy@please.com), September 26, 1998.

Hester, I think that it is going to be very bad, but things will turn around with time, and anyone who thinks this is a permanent demise of computers is mistaken. I have heard a lot of people saying that accounting the old way may be a good thing to learn for the first couple of years in 2000.

Vic

-- Vic (Light_servant@yahoo.com), September 27, 1998.

Good Work!....just gotta remember to close what you open in HTML....if it is < I > then at the end it's < / I >...gotta close with forward slash.

-- Donna Barthuley (moment@pacbell.net), September 27, 1998.

Testing

-- testing (testing@testing.com), September 27, 1998.

Guess not. Once more.

-- Chuck a Night Driver (rienzoo@en.com), September 27, 1998.

Hester - I have had a lot of those fears. In the technological age a lot of people have had to learn new skills as careers and business evolve, and we will too. I have been a travel agent, a registered nurse, a marketer, and held a lot of odd jobs in between (scrubbing toilets in a motel while pregnant was one of the more therapeutic - good posture for the back!). The fear of the unknown is the worst one, but if you think back to when you were 18 - are you doing now what you thought you'd do then, or is it something totally outside of what you could imagine then?

No cyanide pills, my friend. The circumstances will change (as they always have) but the relationships, and who you are, will be the same. Congrats on your upcoming marriage!!

BTW, what do you suppose the "hottest" jobs WILL be post-2000?

-- Melissa (financed@forbin.com), September 27, 1998.

I think there will be a big market for test pilots.

-- Amy Leone (aleone@amp.com), September 28, 1998.

Lawyers and Judges?

-- Gayla Dunbar (privacy@please.com), September 28, 1998.

Hester, I'd think about moving the wedding up a few months. It will depend on you and your (lucky) future husband of course, but seems like it will easier to already be together if the troubles start, rther than try to get together afterwards. Travel for friends, and family will be easier (more "normal" for them) before rather than after. Also, your own prep's for the ceremony will be easier - though I know you bride types go "nuts" anyway then - if the wedding were, say, in Nov. rather than April.

Besides a probably more comfortable honeymoon, you'd get a tax break (I think) for 1999, and could ask for all sorts of Y2K or camping/outdoors-type gifts. [Hey, why knot get a little practical every now and then if you are going to tie the knot. Would you be more likely to use a hand saw or crytal china in February?) Besides, it will be warmer snuggling in January with 2 rather than one.

-- Robert A. Cook, P.E. (Kennesaw, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), September 28, 1998.

Cook- we'll be plenty toasty, we're certainly going to move in together long before then!

I've thought alot about it, and if it DOESN'T turn out that bad, then I can have the wedding I dream of, or close. Any wedding we'd have before then would have to be done on the super-dooper cheap and be a very different thing than I would otherwise desire. If it turns out that wouldn't have been necessary, I' be seriously bummed. I'd rather hold off and see which way the wind blows. (and having a second wedding just isn't the same)

-- Hester (stoid@pacbell.net), September 28, 1998.