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The Clever Programmers

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In MIS hallways, the Programmers lurked
On Legacy Systems, they slaved and they worked
Systems old, and horrendous, they could not repair
Cuz of incomprehensible code they found there.

Code so cryptic, so strange, and so frequently cloned
That it looked like the authors must have been stoned
Yeah - twas back in the 60s, so most of them were
And their dates all had 2-digit years, that's for sure.

Like, they stored just the last 2 bytes of the year
Because RAM was so small, and disk was so dear
So Programmers would be working weekends and nights
Until Year 2000, to set things to rights.

But, the Programmers knew, that if even one date
Screwed up runs on New Year's 2000, their fate
Would be to be scapegoats, and take all the blame
For all their hard work, they'd be kicked just the same.

When they finally realized how bad it would be
They thought, and decided, "This ain't for me--"
"It would take twenty years to get this all right!"
So they left, and the last one turned out the light.

Yes, they left MIS to pursue new careers
Perhaps not forever - but at least for four years
Til that darn year-2000 thing's over and done
They'll fix old VCRs, or pump gas, and have fun.

All over the world, former Programmers sighed
"No more 3 A.M. log-ins to fix jobs that died!"
Yes, free from their beepers, they may not return
In early 2000 that batch code will burn!