Depending on who’s counting, there are between 192 and 196 sovereign countries in the world. Let’s split the difference and say there are 194. What’s my point? Of all the countries in the world, only three have not yet adopted the metric system of measurement. One is Liberia, another is Myanmar (Burma) and the third, as you probably know, is the United States of America – the good ol’ USA. When it comes to measuring, where Myanmar leads, Liberia and America follow.
I was reminded of all this last weekend when my family and I went north to Canada to attend a family wedding. By crossing the border into Ontario, we were suddenly immersed in the metric system and had to live metrically – if only for a weekend. The trip and the wedding were fantastic, but, measurement wise, I couldn’t wait to come home and resume my life in this wonderful world of inches, feet, yards, ounces, pounds, cups and tablespoons.
Back in the 1960s, I spent my junior year in England, when the Parliament took up the question of “going metric.” I was just a crazy college kid and a foreigner, so I didn’t follow the arguments too closely. All I remember is that the only non-metric measurement that survived the move to metric was the “pint.” My English friends said no member of Parliament wanted the record to show that he or she voted to abolish the “pint” and deprive pubs throughout the country of serving pints of beer to their thirsty patrons. But every other standard measure went out the window and the entire country was forced to go metric by an act of Parliament.
In the 1970s, our courageous Congress took up the metric question and actually decided to make the whole question of measurements “voluntary.” We can all see how well that’s worked out for us. Back then, I just assumed that, with the world going metric, it was only a matter of time before America would go metric, too. But the old measurements remained in effect and Americans refused to go metric, along with co-conspirators Liberia and Myanmar. Not one of the three holdout nations ever seriously considered making the bold move to live metrically.
Here in America, we are programmed to react predictably to Fahrenheit temperatures for things, like the outdoor temperature on a warm sunny day, or the water temperature in a hotel pool. It just doesn’t sound right to be told the outdoor temperature is 31 when you know it’s close to 90 degrees.
A sign near the Canadian hotel pool that we stayed in said “Pool temperature 25.” I knew it didn’t mean that the water in the pool was 7 degrees below freezing, but I couldn’t help thinking it was so wrong to say it was 25.
My blood pressure pills are measured in milligrams and I can handle that because all I have to do is pick them up at the drug store and take them as directed. But I’m sure that living in a metric society wouldn’t be good for my blood pressure.
And one more thing. If we dump our inches, feet, yards and miles, how are we supposed to say things like: “He missed by a mile,” or “The whole nine yards?”
The whole 3 meters?
It’s just not right.
John McDonald is the author of five books on Maine, including “John McDonald’s Maine Trivia: A User’s Guide to Useless Information.” Contact him at mainestoryteller@yahoo.com.
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