L’Observateur / January 5, 2000

The dire predictions of doom and gloom with the so-called “Y2K Bug” didn’t happen. Civilization didn’t collapse, and people can still do onlinetrading and participate in chatrooms on the internet.

Meanwhile, what’s to be done with all those canned and packaged food, bottled water, batteries, flashlights, generators and the like, which many people stockpiled “just in case”? That’s a no-brainer.

There’s plenty of alternatives, all of them good.

Hurricane season starts in June and lasts through November. Everythingstockpiled can still be of use, just in case a tropical storm or hurricane storm strikes the area. If you can’t use the items, your neighbors can.To its credit, south Louisiana has a long history of successfully dealing with hurricane season, and its people are ready to help other areas when similarly stricken.

When hurricanes struck Central America not long ago, south Louisiana was the staging area for aid and assistance being pumped into the region, with food, clothing and volunteers. Likewise, when Hurricane Andrew struckLouisiana in 1992, the south Florida area was not forgotten by Louisianians, and much aid went there.

So keep those dry beans, the macaroni dinners, the bottled water, the charcoal and bottled gas. It could still be of use.Alternately, the same foodstuffs tucked away “just in case” of a worldwide Y2K disaster can be of use now, at agencies such as the St.

John Ministry of Care and St. Charles Social Concerns. Unfortunately, there are always the needy, even in these times of economic success, and this could be a windfall for these agencies.

You can always donate this food and help some victim of a devastating residence fire, which can happen to anyone at anytime. Few events canwreck a family’s life worse than a fire.

Finally, there’s the matter of the extra guns and ammunition some people stockpiled, thinking they would have to defend their families, food and shelter from marauding bands of outlaws after a Y2K disaster, probably after having watched one too many post-apocalyptic movies.

Sell those guns to your local sheriff’s office. Getting them off the street,away from the curious eyes and fingers of children and out of temptation of thieves will help the year 2000 be a much safer one for everyone.

Copyright © 1998, Wick Communications, Inc.

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