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Why isn't the U.S. Metric?
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[QUOTE]Originally posted by Baloo: [QB] Why should we be? Really, we [i]are[/i] metric where it counts (international trade, scientific research, etc.) and non-metric where it ought to be (the grocer's, on the highway). Why should Grandma have to learn how many kilometers it is from Memphis to Little Rock when she already knows how far it is in miles. Does Granny [i]care[/i] that it's difficult to convert from miles to feet (5,280 feet per mile)? No. Why should she? How often does she have to make this conversion? Should uncle Ted down at the dairy learn how to calculate how many gallons of milk there are per hogshead? It depends. Does he really need to know? The truck that takes the milk Ted produces hauls a known liquid volume of the stuff in gallons. Thousands of gallons convert to gallons very easily. What Ted's interested in converting is milk to dollars. If he could make more money selling liters of milk than quarts, he'd be metric in a heartbeat. Brother Todd the scientist, on the other hand, already uses the metric system. Why? It's the system of measurement used by his peers in the scientific community. Along with the jargon necessary to convey ideas in the idiom of his chosen specialty, Todd learned the metric system. Why? It's a tool of his trade. Asking the U.S. to abandon their traditional system for no other reason other than it irks your sense of sensibilities is foolish. You may as well insist that the natives of certain tropical climes ought to wear Army boots. They'll ignore you, because they don't need such footwear, even though some of these places manufacture such boots for use elsewhere. --Baloo PS: I refer you to [URL=http://www.straightdope.com/columns/950602.html]<U>this</U>[/URL] for more on the subject. PPS: I know a lot more of the metric system than most of my peers, having had some schooling in the sciences of physics and astronomy. As for the rest of the system, I figure if I need to know what a hectare is, I can look it up. [/QB][/QUOTE]
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