Re: Y2K heads up - is this trouble???

theis_richard@fr.ibm.com writes:

>  >I think if everyone just used mm/dd/yyyy format, 
>  >there wouldn't be an issue
>   > .... 02/03/2001 can only mean one thing....
>  FYI, as far as I know, only the USA are using this strange format (along
>  with AM/PM...)

Canada is also using AM/PM but a lot of the rest of the world is not,  and 
here is how I found that out.  I vacationed in Canada a few years ago, 
combining a visit to a conference in Toronto with taking my time for a week 
in transit each way playing tourist.

I was parking in a downtown garage because the hotel did not have a parking 
facility, then each morning (1 or 2 pm is morning for me) driving out to the 
conference site when most traffic was coming in opposite direction to work or 
shop.  Then after the conference closed I toured what was open, and returned 
to the hotel at what was a normal early evening for me like 3 or 4 am.

I discovered that immigrants, from some Asian nations working low end jobs, 
are unfamiliar with the AM & PM system, when the guy I pay my parking fees to 
was dumbfounded declaring that I was leaving before I came in, according to 
the parking ticket stamps.   He thought it was some kind of computer error & 
hoped I could clarify what time I really came in.

I blurted out that my time machine was in an accident, and I needed to 
intercept myself before it was beyond repair & I get stuck here.  Apparently 
he understood what I was getting at, since his jaw dropped a bit more, but 
still did not know AM PM, so I took pity on the fellow & said I CAME IN WEE 
HOURS OF LAST NITE, then I explained to him what the AM & PM after the time 
meant.

MacWheel99@aol.com (Alister Wm Macintyre) (Al Mac)

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