Editor's Note: Saying goodbye to the good old what’s-its-name

That can easily happen at the conclusion of a 10-year period that bears no name. And we’ve got more anonymity ahead of us. Think about it: You hear references all the time to the final eight decades of the last century, the ’20s, the ’30s and on through the ’90s. But what do you call a century’s first two decades?

Nothing.

You might hear an occasional referral to, say, “aught 6” as a reference to 1906. But if you talk that way you sound old-fashioned, as if you might harbor personal memories of 1906. And I’ve heard no one apply the “aught-something” approach to one of the years in this decade. The next one will be worse: Are we going to call it the “teens”?

What’s that you say? Technically this decade doesn’t end until Jan. 1, 2011? Balderdash. This was settled 10 years ago when some folks argued, with mere mathematics on their side, that the new millennium would not begin until 2001. Then the Y2K computer panic kicked in and everybody pretty well accepted the fact that the big change came when that first digit changed from a 1 to a 2.

Ergo, since it’s been 10 years since we partied like it was 1999, another decade has come and almost gone.

• The presidential election dispute of 2000. I remember when people used to say that this country would ditch the electoral college once somebody got elected without winning the popular vote. Didn’t happen. Of course, there are plenty of folks who question whether Bush legitimately beat Gore even in the electoral college count, but at least the Supreme Court ended the excruciating Florida recounts (remember hanging chads?).

• “Incredible terrorist attacks.” That was the way I alerted my Spokane newspaper colleagues to the events of Sept. 11, 2001, as I dialed them up at their breakfast tables. Soon, we were grateful to be scrambling to produce an “extra” edition instead of just sitting there watching it all unfold on TV.

• The wars that followed, and continue to follow. Our intervention in Afghanistan came quickly, while the Iraq invasion began in 2003. This decade may not have a name, but our memories will define it as a time of war without end.

• Everything else pales in comparison, of course. But the ebb and flow of politics had California voters kicking an unpopular Democrat out of the governor’s office and replacing him with a Republican who would ultimately prove unpopular as well. Nationally, Republicans had charge of the White House and Congress as of 2003, and Democrats regained such total control by 2009 that they are on the verge of passing dramatic health care reform this week in what will apparently be the final big story of the decade.

•  I could fill up 10 columns with the big sports and entertainment events, from the Yankees blowing the ’01 World Series to this year’s death of Michael Jackson. And I’ll always think of “this decade” (boy, it could really use a name) as when I fell off the technology bandwagon. I’m sure I’m not the only one. I was doing OK with my admittedly slow Internet connection and admittedly oversized cell phone for a while, but the conversion to handheld do-it-all gadgets left me in the dust. I just can’t wrap my mind — or my fingers — around those tiny keypads.

Unfortunately, the latter part of the decade also brought the financial meltdown that eliminated jobs and downsized retirement accounts. With that and the war on terrorism as its enduring legacies, we can really use the hopefulness of a New Year’s Day as a time to wish for and commit to better decades ahead.