Message text written by INTERNET:Jean.rouleaux@skynet.be
>Hi everybody,
I read this threat with great interest and I'm flabbergasted by the
reactions of some listers. You Americans are spoiled rotten and
believe me the metric system will make life even more easy.Of
course at a certain age it is sometimes hard to adapt yourself to a
a new system, but ask your kids they know how it works.
If you have travelled in Europe you have reasons to bother, in my
daily life when I travel for more than 25 miles I need :
- 3 different currencies: Dutch Guilders, German Dmark,Belgian
Franc.
- 3 different languages: Dutch,French,German
at work in an ATC centre on the job it's English, during the breaks
we speak all kind of languages as we work with about 21 different
nationalities. To make live easy we also work with a different time,
we use GMT now called UTC, and of course all goes in Feet, Knots
and NM ( Nautical Miles) bless God no Inches.
Our cars 2 1/2 British ( 2 TRs in Inches, a Land Rover half inch
half metric) and 2 French cars all metric makes me need mixed
tools.
For my house in France all bills have to be paid in FF (French
Francs) and of course going to U.K. means driving on the left side
and spending in GBP. Now very soon all will be converted in Euros.
You see why make life easy when it can be made difficult.
Jean R
PS: my mother language is Luxemburgish ??? what's that
<
Wow! Talk about being multi-talented!
I have always said that using metric (as opposed to "English") is like
using another language. If you have to translate into "English" each time
you will never be fluent. And to become fluent you must "use" it.
Years ago I had a Ford with a digital gauge cluster and it could be
switched between "English" and Metric. I set it to metric. It really took
some folks by suprise to look over at the dash and see I was driving 104 on
the highway! (65 MPH). However I quickly became familiar with KPH/MPH
conversions and I was (and still am) bi-lingual in this respect. Its not
hard once you set your mind to it, all you have to do is overcome the
resistance.
On my two recent trips to England I have hired cars and driven myself.
Many of my friends over here think I am crazy and reckless. But, after a
short aclimation period it became fairly easy. All I had to do is think in
mirror image which worked well except when it came to shifting gears - but
that's another story.
See ya later Jean. A bientot, bis spater, a la proxima, aloha,...
Dave
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