I recently stumbled across an article about the Metric System. In particular, Americans' resistance to it. I've always found our collective national reluctance to adopt things metric to be a little bit. . . I dunno. . . odd. I mean, what does it matter, really, whether it's 3 miles to the next town, or 5 kilometers? Although I suppose it could get a little strange in places like suburban Detroit, where the main roads are named 15-Mile, 16-Mile, etc. Would they have to change them to 24-Kilometer, 25.6-Kilometer, etc? Would Eminem have to change the name of his movie to 12.8 Kilometer? And I suppose nobody wants to hear Mary Poppins sing about 5 milliliters of sugar. . .
I suppose it's mainly a matter of what you're comfortable with. We've all honed our sense of inches and feet since we were small, and we know what a pound is, or a gallon, and this metric stuff just seems weird, and not worth the effort. Plus, I think some of the 'metrification' initiatives from back in the 70s/80s were kind-of heavy-handed, and inspired resistance just by pushing too hard. But I also suspect that some of our national resistance to metric-ness is akin to why lots of us don't like soccer - it's something 'Foreigners' do, and dammit, we're Americans, and nobody is gonna make us do stuff like they do in the rest of the world, because, dammit, we're Americans, and we can do as we damn well please, and screw the rest of the world. Dammit.
Most people don't know it, but the metric system isn't just arbitrary; it's based on the dimensions of the earth itself - by definition, there are 10,000 kilometers along a standard meridian from the equator to the poles. Which, I dunno, seems more reasonable than counting barleycorns, or keeping track of the king's nose, or whatever. And liters are derived from meters (a liter is 1000 cubic centimers, if you were wondering). And a gram is the weight of a cubic centimeter of water. And so forth. I mean, heck, in Celsius (which are like 'metric degrees'), water freezes at 0 degrees, and boils at 100 degrees; does anybody even know what 32 and 212 are all about? I sure don't. . .
I've always smiled wryly at the notion that 'Americans don't do metric', anyway. You see, I work as an engineer in the automotive industry. From the day I walked off my college campus and into my first cubicle 30-odd years ago, I have never done my job with an inch, a pound, or a foot. All your cars, whether domestic or imported, are designed and developed by engineers thinking and measuring in millimeters, kilograms, liters and Celsius. Really. Unless, you know, you're driving some American iron from the 60s or earlier. In which case, the people from the Woodward Dream Cruise would like to hear from you. And us engineers know (and nobody else wants to hear) that metric units are a lot easier to use, calculationally speaking. It's true.
Truth to tell, you've already adopted more metric than you probably think you have. How natural does it feel to buy a 2-liter of pop (that's soda for you non-midwesterners)? Even so, a few years back, a local dairy in OurTown tried to sell milk in 4-liter jugs, 5% more milk, for the same price as a gallon. And people simply wouldn't buy the 4-liters; I'll be darned if I can figure out why. Alcoholic beverages are typically sold in 750 ml bottles (although you probably think of it as a fifth). Track and field (and swimming, for what it's worth) events haven't been run in yard or mile distances in decades; we're used to hearing about 5k and 10k runs, and we know that a 100-meter time below 10 seconds is faster than hell. Even the jumping (high jump, long jump, pole vault) and throwing (shot put, discus, javelin) records are 'officially' kept in metric distances, while being duly translated into feet and inches for American audiences (years ago, Javier Sotomayor, the Cuban high-jumper, asked that the bar be set at 2.44 meters because he knew the Americans would flip out over 8 feet). And I won't say anything at all about, say, grams of cocaine. . .
Heck, some metric stuff is just plain more fun. If you've ever driven in Canada, wasn't it fun to go 120 on the freeway (of course, if you're a typical Yank, and the sign says '120', you went 130, didn't you)? All you 210-pound folks would become 95-kilos, and doesn't that just sound better? I'm 5 feet, 11 inches tall, which is frustratingly just short of 6 feet; but in metric, I'm 180 centimeters, which is just more satisfying. And eight inches (actually 7-7/8) becomes 20 centimeters. For those of you to whom that matters. . .
Now, before anybody sets out to firebomb my house with a 2-liter Molotov cocktail, let me stress that I'm not proposing that anybody force anybody else to adopt metric. If and when it happens, it will happen because people adopt it naturally, and 'organically'. All I'm saying is that, in lots of ways, metric units are easier to use than the 'English' units we've grown up with, and there's really nothing to be afraid of. Just like 2-liters of pop, you get used to 'em, and it really doesn't take all that much effort to 're-calibrate'. But I'm not holding my breath. . .
-------------------------
And, on a completely different line of thought. . .
A week ago today was Jenn's-and-my 35th anniversary (and hey, at least there aren't separate 'metric' units of time, right?). I can scarcely express the depth of my gratitude to my Best Beloved; my life is incredibly richer for having her in it.
Thank you, Sweetheart, from the bottom of my heart. Further up and further in!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Great topic! I agree with everything you said. It is crazy that it still hasn't been adopted by the masses here, considering everyone uses it in science and medicine. Maybe when the baby boomers are gone?
ReplyDeleteI do have to admit, though, that my 12 year old self does get a tiny bit of satisfaction from knowing that my jr high teachers were wrong, once again! No, we don't all have robots doing our work, no, our cars don't fly, and no, we aren't using the metric system in the 21st century!
Funny; I don't think of my generation as being stick-in-the-mud, resistant-to-change types. If anything, we've tended to overthrow things that shouldn't have been overthrown. . .
DeleteAnd compare a flip-phone with the old Star Trek communicators sometime. . . ;)
When the baby boomers are gone? (From the comment just before.) That is a bit sad but it makes me think it should be a good title for a country song.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking of Peter, Paul and Mary - "Where Have All the Boomers Gone?"
Delete;)
I thought we were going to convert, strange that we only got as far as soda and booze. As you point out, I am very familiar with the size of two liters, but uncomfortable with Celsius and other measures.
ReplyDeleteWell, you know, you start with the important stuff, and work your way down from there, right?
DeleteIn my experience, it doesn't take long to figure out that 20 degrees (68F) is comfortable, 30 (86F) is hot, and anything below zero is cold (and normal body temperature is 37 degrees, even; you don't even need the decimal places)
It doesn't help that 4 litres (that's how we spell it this side of the pond) is only 0.88 of a (imperial) gallon! Trust you Yanks to get it all wrong ;-)
ReplyDeleteI thought that was the French spelling. . . ;)
DeleteRemember that you spell theatre some strange way!
DeleteThank you for honouring my post with the favour of a comment. My meagre attempts at humour are no match for the calibre of your skill to catalogue, analyse and generalise my labours, however lame. In the future, I will endeavour to manoeuvre my words with superiour skill. With practise, I'm sure my behaviour will acquire a more favourable flavour. Despite any rumours you may have heard, I harbour no animosities toward you or any other subjects of the English crown, and regard us rather as amicable neighbours. Colour me duly chastened. . .
Delete;)
Snork!!
DeleteFirst, a belated Happy Anniversary!
ReplyDeleteSecond, some non-metric measurements are more precise. Fahrenheit, for instance. There are 180 different temps between freezing and boiling, while Celsius gives us only 100. So there!
Third, I don't have a third.
Thank you, Sully. It's been a great ride. . .
DeleteAnd, you know, precision is relative. You can always just add more decimal places, if need be. I mean, a meter and a yard are roughly the same, but if you want to subdivide yards, you break down into feet and inches, and multiples of 12 and 36. Whereas centimeters and millimeters are straightforward divisions by 10. But then, you knew that already. . .
I know, you're from Boston, and 26 miles, 385 yards is kind of a sacred number (or should I say, a sacred pair of numbers). But, aside from having to swap all those '26.2' stickers for '42.2', what's the big deal? It's still the distance from Marathon to Athens. . .
;)
Speaking of Marathons, to some 35 years qualifies.
DeleteFor you and yours it appears to be a good run.
Congratulations and a wish for many more.
Pure joy, my friend. . .
DeleteThanks.
Mr. Lime was just complaining last night that when he removed the battery from his truck the truck was metric but the battery had bits on it that were English.he gets very uptight about the metric thing. I found it amusing in Trinidad that signs and labels are all in metric but people speak in inches, feet, and miles and in the farm market they buy in pounds.
ReplyDeleteBelated happy anniversary to you and your wife!
Thank you, my friend. . .
DeleteI'd expect something like the Trinidad phenomenon you describe to happen here, at least transitionally. Most folks will probably 're-calibrate', but some folks never will. . .
Yeah, I was a student in the 70's when they tried to slam us with the metric rush. The problem was, not a single one of the teachers were taught how it worked and how it compared so they had to figure it out for themselves. They also did not provide an opportunity to teach parents or even so much as to send a simple cheat sheet home so that parents could have even the slimmest chance of being able to help.
ReplyDeleteBeyond that mess, the ultimate nail in the coffin was this: "All of Europe has converted to this and most of the world with the exception of a few backward countries. The US has to convert or it will be surpassed by the rest of the world.". That about guaranteed universal scorn, ridicule, and rejection.
Exactly; ref. 2nd paragraph above. . .
DeleteMetric came to feel like the soccer of measurement systems. I mean, the godless commies used metric, y'know? (And, as I've hinted, most of the impetus for 'conversion' has come from international commerce, anyway. . .)
And, it's good to see you out and about; I was beginning to think you didn't care. . . ;)
I really do not care a wit, I only come back to annoy and aggravate .... ;-)
Delete