"J.H. Roulleaux" wrote:
> 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
Jean,
Your message proves that there is a need for standardization. The real
issue here is "what is going to emerge as the standard?" Everybody
concerned thinks theirs is the best (look at Canada and their language
issue that has one province threatening to leave the union.) As we
become a Global community, the problem becomes worse, particularly in
places like Europe where there is a multitude of different languages and
not everyone can or even wants to speak other than their own.
Oh well, It will be interesting to see how it works out! :)
Joe
--
"If you can't excel with talent, triumph with effort."
-- Dave Weinbaum in National Enquirer
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