A friend of mine who shares my concern about Y2K called this morning to relate an experience he had yesterday. He went out to eat at a restaurant and gave the waiter an American Express card to pay for the meal. The waiter came back and said the card would not work, so my friend produced a different American Express card. The waiter brought that one back also, with the same story.

My friend paid for the meal with cash (a nice little taste of things to come, perhaps), went home and tried to contact American Express to find out what was going on. The line was busy for 45 minutes; there were many others calling in with the same problem. When he finally got through he was told they were having computer problems (sound familiar?).

I don't know if this is a Y2K computer problem or not, but it does go to show the effect of a computer glitch on a credit based economy. If this kind of thing happens simultaneously in many areas of the economy in 2000, commerce will come to a screeching halt and so will our easy lifestyle.

-- cody varian (cody@y2ksurvive.com), August 12, 1999

Answers

it has started

-- testing (fixing@upgrading.patching), August 12, 1999.

Dad and I have never permitted credit cards at our family shelving and plumbing business-we have been kidded by new and regular customers that we were probably the only business left in upstate N.Y. to be this way. Things will be changing soon. (oops! no credit cards at my job church either!)

...got "P" traps?

-- churchorganist (musicswede@webtv.net), August 12, 1999.

Rest assured, cody, that WHATEVER the problem that American Express was having, it was NOT due to Y2K! Even if they were flat dab in the middle of Y2K TESTING, the problem itself HAD NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with Y2K. Rest assured. And don't take cash out of the bank. Y2K-AOK. Thank you.

-- King of Spain (madrid@aol.com), August 12, 1999.

I am absolutely, positively, definitely, totally, completely sure that this had and will have in the future no connection whatsoever to Y2K, even if it occurred during the implementation or testing of American Express' Y2K code remediation. No, no, no, no NO!!!

-- cody (cody@y2ksurvive.com), August 12, 1999.

You didn't see any cards fall from the sky, did you? Seeeeeee!

-- marsh (armstrng@sisqtel.net), August 12, 1999.

American Express has over $6,000 of our money and they haven't been able to credit the bill, which we paid in full. I don't know or care WHY, I just want my money back or my bill credited.

-- helen (sstaten@fullnet.net), August 12, 1999.