Date: 2 january 2001
Time: 2137 local (GMT+1)
Place: A shopping center near Pisa
My wife fas looking for ankle weights for gyms. We found only 0.5
kg or 1 lb ones, that was too much small, or 1 kg or 2.5 lb that
looked to her too heavy (we found also 10 lb that was surely too
heavy) . Some shops had weights, british or chinese produced in
lb, only one had the ones in kg (european produced).
She looked for a 750-800g one.
Most shops listed a 3/2 lb one so with 680g could more or less fit
the needs, but every one did not had them on the shelves.
At end of the day, three minutes before closing the shop, we found
a new shalf, piled with boxes of different size labeled "Fasce per
polsi/caviglie 3LB" or "Fasce per polsi/caviglie 5LB" *Weight belts
for wrist/ankles 3lb" or "...5lb" .
I got one but lloked a bis lighet, other heavier ... most carried the
tag "3lb" and the larger ones were actually heavier than the ones
carriyng the 5LB label !
I asked the salesman, i give him two boxes, one for each hand,
and asked why bot were labeled 3lb ...
He replied that he do not know how much was a british pound, and
called another girl.
She said that they had no scales in the shop , and that she has
slept only 3 hours in the night .... and she thought 1 pound should
be about 1100g, anyway .
I told them that they could be justified if they was not able to
weight a thing by hand, and also that they did not know how many
g were 5 lb , but they should have esaily noted that was not
possible that a belt labeled 3LB (real: 8 lb) was much heavier than
another labeled 5 (true) and even more than others labeled 3 (real
1kg).
Ypu could not know how much are 5lb, but even if you diod not
slept you shourd know that 5 are heavier than 3 !
when i told this he replied ... "but i am not sure how much is a
pound"
ifp or new year diner problem ???
Leonardo Boselli
nucleo informatico e telematico
Dipartimento Ingegneria Civile
Universita` di Firenze
V. S. Marta 3 - I-50139 Firenze
tel +39()0554796431 fax +39()055495333
http://www.dicea.unifi.it/~leo
