2008 Woodie Awards
Vote Absentee
Ask Anything
This week's columnist is: ROB
Rob Peterson
Issue date: 4/26/07 Section: Showcase
Dear Ask Anything,
I'm in a math class this semester and trying to transfer pounds into kilograms. Why the heck doesn't the United States use the metric system?
Sincerely,
Aggravated over Arithmetic
Dear Aggravated,
While I'm still unsure why everything in this country has to be difficult - like not converting to the metric system, or figuring out tax returns, or even getting a girlfriend - we are known for being very, very stubborn. Change is something that we're not that great at implementing.
It took us 100 years after our independence to free the slaves and another 100 years to finally desegregate our nation. Who knows, in another century's worth of time, we may finally dump our complicated system of English units.
Biographer Barry Jones wrote in "The Dictionary of World Biography" that King Louis XVI of France commissioned his scholars to come up with a universal measuring system as the inconsistencies of regional measurements was creating dissonance among the French. So, in 1791, the metric system was introduced. Today, the system is recognized by almost every country in the world.
Except for us, that is. My guess is that we have held onto the English system due to a combination of stubbornness to change over to a new system and a refusal to adopt anything created by the French. There's a reason why the Statue of Liberty was constructed out on an island - our forefathers didn't really want it, but didn't have anywhere else to put it, so they made sure the monument was built away from the mainland.
Besides, it's not like every single country has established the metric system as its national form of measurement. Besides the United States, the great nations of Liberia and Myanmar have not officially recognized the metric system, though they do use it on most occasions.
Personally, I'm a little torn between the metric system and the English system. You're definitely right, Aggravated, converting between the two systems can be a pain, especially since - shudder - fractions are involved.
Another great thing about the metric system is that you sound like you weigh less when compared to the English system. At my last sports physical I told the doctor I weighed 105 kilograms and that she could do the math, not me.
But on the other hand, having these really cool names for English units like a league, hogshead, pint, fathom and chain make for great narratives. I'd much rather read "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" as opposed to "111,200 Kilometers Under the Sea," for example. Plus, nothing says you're more American than when you ask for a gallon of gasoline while overseas. In times like these, though, I don't know if you want to go around Europe exclaiming that you're from the United States.
So Aggravated, I can't really tell you what to do here. You could always move to another country outside of Liberia and Myanmar if it bothers you that much. But if it weren't for our archaic English system, I wouldn't have been able to write you this poem:
"You can't go wrong with a furlong, but things would be sweeter with a kilometer."
Ask Anything is a weekly question and advice column. Maja Petersen and Rob Peterson are alternating columnists.
I'm in a math class this semester and trying to transfer pounds into kilograms. Why the heck doesn't the United States use the metric system?
Sincerely,
Aggravated over Arithmetic
Dear Aggravated,
While I'm still unsure why everything in this country has to be difficult - like not converting to the metric system, or figuring out tax returns, or even getting a girlfriend - we are known for being very, very stubborn. Change is something that we're not that great at implementing.
It took us 100 years after our independence to free the slaves and another 100 years to finally desegregate our nation. Who knows, in another century's worth of time, we may finally dump our complicated system of English units.
Biographer Barry Jones wrote in "The Dictionary of World Biography" that King Louis XVI of France commissioned his scholars to come up with a universal measuring system as the inconsistencies of regional measurements was creating dissonance among the French. So, in 1791, the metric system was introduced. Today, the system is recognized by almost every country in the world.
Except for us, that is. My guess is that we have held onto the English system due to a combination of stubbornness to change over to a new system and a refusal to adopt anything created by the French. There's a reason why the Statue of Liberty was constructed out on an island - our forefathers didn't really want it, but didn't have anywhere else to put it, so they made sure the monument was built away from the mainland.
Besides, it's not like every single country has established the metric system as its national form of measurement. Besides the United States, the great nations of Liberia and Myanmar have not officially recognized the metric system, though they do use it on most occasions.
Personally, I'm a little torn between the metric system and the English system. You're definitely right, Aggravated, converting between the two systems can be a pain, especially since - shudder - fractions are involved.
Another great thing about the metric system is that you sound like you weigh less when compared to the English system. At my last sports physical I told the doctor I weighed 105 kilograms and that she could do the math, not me.
But on the other hand, having these really cool names for English units like a league, hogshead, pint, fathom and chain make for great narratives. I'd much rather read "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" as opposed to "111,200 Kilometers Under the Sea," for example. Plus, nothing says you're more American than when you ask for a gallon of gasoline while overseas. In times like these, though, I don't know if you want to go around Europe exclaiming that you're from the United States.
So Aggravated, I can't really tell you what to do here. You could always move to another country outside of Liberia and Myanmar if it bothers you that much. But if it weren't for our archaic English system, I wouldn't have been able to write you this poem:
"You can't go wrong with a furlong, but things would be sweeter with a kilometer."
Ask Anything is a weekly question and advice column. Maja Petersen and Rob Peterson are alternating columnists.
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