Haselkorn acknowledges the fix may not be easy. But the notion that businesses and governments have ignored the problem until now is simply untrue. A bank that entered a 30-year mortgage in 1971, had to enter 2001. He predicts that most disruptions will be minor. And while some systems may take longer than others to be debugged, most should come on line within a week or two.
People going around with an apocalyptic view just adds to the problem.
Cherie Brown, a former Tree of Life church member, said that Andrews' preoccupation with the Y2K problem has proved to be a dissenting factor between her and her husband, from whom she is separated. Brown said she believes her husband plans to follow Andrews to Colville. But her husband, Doug Brown, said he has no intention of abandoning his thriving business and moving to Colville. Bill Wassmuth, executive director of Northwest Coalition Against Malicious Harassment isn't surprised that some religious groups have glommed onto the computer glitch as a sign of Armageddon. It sounds like they're using the computer glitch as the manifestation of doom and gloom.