Janis Jaquith
janis@radioessays.com
237 words
WE GOT IT
Back in 1970, if you said to a friend, "My mortgage will be paid off in 2000," you might have gotten a blank stare. Or your friend might have said, "You mean 2000 dollars?"
"No," you would have had to say, "I mean my mortgage will be paid off in the YEAR 2000."
Well, now. Here we are in 1999. Have we gotten used to the idea by now? Or do radio and TV announcers have to keep on saying, "The YEAR 2000" every time it occurs in the news?
Enough, already. We got it.
There's something nagging, parental, about this "The YEAR 2000" thing. Like having your mother say for the bazillionth time, as you head for the door, "zip up that jacket." You want to scream "All right, already, I know! I'm a college graduate!"
To make matters worse, this label is expanding to contaminate the current century. In the past few weeks, I've heard announcers refer to "the YEAR 1999." Come off it, you guys. We know this is a year you're talking about. What do you suppose we THINK it is, huh? 1999: The price of a cup of coffee at Starbucks? The number of people summoned to Ken Starr's grand jury? Believe me, there is no confusion over this. We got it.
