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Re: Why do (or did) the British drive on the left.

To: mgs@Autox.Team.Net
Subject: Re: Why do (or did) the British drive on the left.
From: Rocky Frisco <rock@rocky-frisco.com>
Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 00:18:51 -0600
Eric Erickson wrote:

> On 25/01/2005, at 1:52 PM, Frank P. Marrone wrote:
> 
>>
>> I think things will continue to progress to metric here in the states,  I
>> rarely hear objections to it like when it was a political issue in the 
>> late
>> 70's.  Some thing I don't expect to see change from English units in 
>> my life
>> time however, like gallons as a measure of fuel at the pump.  Oh sure, 
>> you
>> can put liters up there too but we are just too used to talking in 
>> $/gal and
>> MPG for that to change.
>>
>>
> 
> Well, I was a child of two dramatic eras of change.
> 
> In the mid sixties we changed to decimal currency.  I was young enough 
> to be flexible and made the change pretty smoothly, yet I was old enough 
> (6/7 years of age) to remember POUNDS, SHILLINGS and PENCE.  I remember 
> that one day it cost threepence to catch the bus to "the top of the hill 
> shops" (as one coin it was a tiny little silver thing that also ended up 
> in our plum pudding at Christmas time). The next day, seemingly, it cost 
> five cents (a larger silver coin).
> 
> Not much after that I remember everyone putting three dollars worth of 
> petrol in their cars, which would probably last them the week.
> 
> Next, I was at school when we really started the push to metric - pity 
> was that I had already been learning in feet and inches (and rods, 
> perches, chains, acres, gallons, pints, pounds, ounces, etc. etc.) so we 
> had to make the change.  A year or two later and metric would be all I 
> learned.
> 
> This means that I can immediately visualise someone described at six 
> foot tall... but now we here to be on the lookout for someone 180cm 
> tall?????  My transition to kilometres was damaged by getting old cars 
> with the speedo in miles.  I still get confused when people quote 
> acceleration as 0-100... ummm, that is quick, I think until I realise it 
> is 0-100kmh (about 60mph).
> 
> But worse still is fuel consumption.  I just can't get a grip on 
> litres-per-100kilometres instead of miles-per-gallon!!
> 
> I wish I was a few years younger and none of this would have been an 
> issue!!  Of course, I haven't even touched on the pronounciation of 
> "kilometers" :-)
> 
> But then again I would not wish the complicated miles, chains, yards, 
> feet, inches (pounds, ounces etc.) calculations on anyone :-)  The 
> change has gotta hurt a generation or two... but the long term gain is 
> well worth it!

You see, I think just the opposite. I think the kids that had to 
calculate pounds, shillings and pence were more intelligent as a result.

I think the metric system represents just another influence to dumb down 
the already far too dumbed-down human species.   ;)

-Rock    http://www.rocky-frisco.com
--
Rocky Frisco's LIBERTY website: http://www.liberty-in-our-time.com/
The World's Best Daily News Service: http://www.rationalreview.com/
Rock onstage with JJ Cale and E. Clapton: http://tinyurl.com/3modw




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