The World’s Best Kept, Well Known Secret
I worked at Woodman’s the last two days of 2000, bagging groceries. Upon completion of each order, I would wish the customer a Happy New Year. To at least a third of them, I would say something like, “You know, this is the big one,” meaning that the New Millennium and 21st Century begin now, not last year. No one acted surprised or unaware; every single one agreed with me, and quite a few responded with “Finally, someone knows about it besides us,” or a similar remark. By now, it seemed, everyone was well aware that last year’s millennium hype had all happened a year too early, but most people were afraid to make a big deal of it this year, for fear that others would scoff at them and say, “Oh no, not this again!” As it was, I received more favorable responses to the phrase “21st Century” than I did for “the New Millennium.”
Many people were quietly planning bigger celebrations than last year’s, it seemed. Last year, most people stayed close to home, fearing for either Y2K (Year 2000, the end of the world as we know it) or all of the craziness of the big millennium bashes. And last year, Woodman’s became very quiet after 6 p.m. on New Year’s Eve; by that time, people had generally bought everything they needed for their New Year’s Eve parties or Y2K contingency plans. But this year, the store was still busy for awhile after 6 p.m. And you wouldn’t believe the amount of non-alcoholic sparkling juices, soda, snack chips, shrimp, crab and lobster that was being sold—mostly items that would normally be used for extra special occasions like the dawn of a new century.
Several people shared their New Year’s Eve plans with me, and most of them were planning something special. One co-worker said that she and her children would be playing Operation and Ker-Plunk and drinking “fake champagne.” She planned to set the clocks ahead so that her children could ring in the new year at 10 p.m. and then get to bed. “It’ll be a wild evening,” she joked. “They might call the cops on us!”
Most people were staying home or gathering with small groups of family or friends. But nearly all were planning something special this year. Only one lady said that she was planning nothing and would probably be asleep by 9 p.m.