News

The Y2K craze left a unique paper trail

Posted January 26, 2009 10:00 pm

I discovered I have a dilemma as this new millennium heads toward the end of its first decade.

A few weeks ago, I found a box of Glow in the Dark Y2K Toilet Paper stashed in the back of my linen closet. I don't recall how it ended up there. It must have come from some practical joker.

With a copyright of 1999, the packaging boasts its contents to be "The only toilet paper you'll be able to see when the lights go out in the new millennium."

The roll of toilet paper - inside a box sealed in shrink wrap - comes with instructions that the glow-in-the-dark ink needs light to be activated. "For best results, expose a portion of the roll to fluorescent light or even direct sunlight."

Considering that it's dark inside the box and the commemorative product could be a valuable collector's item if kept unopened, I'm wondering if after nearly 10 years the ink still glows in the dark.

How will I ever know?

Then I flashed back to the late 1990s. I recalled the Y2K computer bug hype and the media frenzy that provided plenty of perfect stimuli to arouse fears about the future, a salient reminder of how the world we've created can appear to be out of control, even now.

Some naysayers used different calendars to dispute the actual beginning of the new millennium, promising that news media had created restless nights a year early.

I sat on the sidelines thinking the lights were already out in the minds of some of the folks who promoted the Y2K madness. I had refused to prepare for the end of the world.

Plus, many of us in Naperville were engaged in planning citywide festivities for Celebration 2000.

And 2000 was ushered in with spectacular fireworks that we first watched in Sidney, Australia, illuminating skies peacefully around the globe without a glitch all the way to Naperville.

You'd think we'd be smarter by now. You'd think we'd learn to pay attention to how newfound technology in this media-driven modern society can spin us out of control, spoon-feeding us with some sensational story lines, especially in Illinois.

Did you read today's headlines?

Good question

I'm sometimes surprised at the questions I receive from readers that make me think.

The other day, a relatively new resident called set to vent about several issues - Seager Park, Sindt property and garden plots. I reminded her it's a local election year. I asked if she had registered to vote.

I said to pay attention to the votes of the incumbents when they take a stand; remember how they vote on tough issues. See if they're playing to voters or if they can be decisive on public policy. Like it or not, vote accordingly.

I also encouraged her to contact the elected officials who represent her. I gave her e-mail addresses.

When I suggested that she might want to call them or arrange a time to have coffee with them, she asked, "Can I do that?"

She could call me and passionately express her opinions to a media person, but she wondered about having a conversation with her elected officials.