Illogical Thinking, a No. 1 Complaint

I marvel at the endless stream of fuzzy thinking I read regarding the end of the second millennium and the beginning of the third. I refer here specifically to the letter from Al Clarke of Thousand Oaks (“Millennium’s Starting Point an Arbitrary One,” Jan. 21).

In fact almost everything that we organize numerically begins with “1” rather than “0.” I have never had a check 0 in a checkbook, nor have I ever seen a 0 issue of a newspaper or magazine. Has anyone ever started reading a book at page 0 on the 0th of March? Even in military time one uses 2400 hours and then 0001 for the new day.

It is so crystal clear that we have to finish the year 2000 before we can start the third millennium. Are so many people so illogical?

RICHARD J. WARREN

Van Nuys