RE: Y2K heads up - is this trouble??? -- MIDRANGE-L

We use AM/PM and 24h00 here in deeepest darkest Africa. But we use the
European DD/MM/YYYY for most things and occasionally you'll see YYYY/MM/DD
but never MM/DD/YYYY.

just thought you'd like to know....

Alistair (Durban, South Africa)

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-midrange-l@midrange.com
[mailto:owner-midrange-l@midrange.com]On Behalf Of MacWheel99@aol.com
Sent: Tuesday, December 05, 2000 11:46 AM
To: MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com
Subject: 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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