santa cruz wharf

03 February 2007

Photo Hunting ~ week three ~ "Gross"


A Gross
(this one of pennies - consider the irony)

If (and it’s a mighty big if) there was one ongoing embarrassment I feel about being American is our continuing inability to switch over to the metric system. I don’t believe it is our unwillingness…it is our inability….we just can’t make it happen.

I am well aware of the inherent issues of conversion, including initial confusion and incredible cost. I am also aware that the vast majority of items sold have metric measurements printed on their packaging. And yeah…we call it a liter of soda and a 750 of wine. But still….

It makes us (and U.S.) look stupid. I hate looking stupid.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was taught metric in school in the UK 25 years ago, and the UK's been metric longer than that.

Guess what system I use in everyday life though? ;-)

katherine. said...

yeah...I was taught metric in school as a child too way longer than 25 years ago...and I was a science major at UCLA..metric...but still

Shelby said...

I was not taught metric. It's a little difficult learning it as an adult.

Lisa said...

Come join us - metric ain't so bad. Happy weekend.

Anonymous said...

The worst part about going metric is buying a can of something (say beans) from the US, and finding that it contains 398 ml of product.
On the upside, the kilometers go by SO much faster than miles. Okay, there's more of them, but still....

Mel said...

*blushing*

I can't even remember if we were TAUGHT metrics. LOL

I know I have a conversion chart....cuz I can't remember sick'em. *sigh*

Richie said...

katherine: Thank you for dropping by my blog and leaving a comment!

As regards metric, well I live in Spain now and it's all metric. "Gross"? Doesn´t that mean disgusting? ;)