Those Y2K frets that have spooked plenty of people into thinking that banking, traveling by air, grocery shopping and other everyday tasks might be complicated after midnight Dec. 31 are even worse for many Americans living abroad, among them U.S. government workers.
Any nonessential federal employee posted at a diplomatic mission can simply go on leave and hunker down to wait for Y2K to blow over. And on Oct. 29, the State Department dispatched a special Y2K preparations cable to personnel in Moscow and other postings in the former Soviet Union, giving them an OK to exercise what's knowns as "authorized departure."
That means anyone who wants to escape possible computer horrors can use his or her own discretion about fleeing Moscow and other points in Eastern Europe for up to 30 days.