Y2K Scare Term Analysis

Though the term “Y2K scare” never actually appears in the novel, the narrator and his Dad are terrified of the potential collapse associated with this scare (also known as “the 2000 problem”). Early computer programmers used only the last two digits of a year in their code, which meant that without any intervention, systems would break down at the end of the millennium (as the years 1900 and 2000 would be indistinguishably coded as “00”). If these computer systems were to fail, giant parts of global infrastructure could fall apart. Fortunately, however, information technology experts were able to remedy their errors before anything could go wrong. But because the news had already spread to the public, some people (like Dad) felt deep anxiety on New Year’s Eve 1999, as the year 2000 approached.