[USMA:25892] 480 km to El Paso

[Paul Trusten, R.Ph.]

I'd like to talk about measurement, too---American measurement, and how we of USMA have always had, and continue to  have ,a great struggle before us.   We Americans on this list live in a society in which measurement is highly emotional and highly romanticized, in which mere metrology can turn into a real shouting match. Invariably, discussions of metrication in the US deteriorate into the old jokes of metricating popular sayings as well as the standard of measurement (I hold my nose as I repeat one of them: "Give him 2.54 cm and he'll take 1.608 m").  In a way, US metrication suggests a revolution in American thinking, since it involves political, economic, and social change. I often wonder if Canadians, Australians, and South Africans had to fight a revolution to change their standard of measurement, but I do not wonder about my own country, the United States. I believe that it will take a kind of revolution to enact SI in our land. That revolution may be the result of a tragic collapse in our economy, compelling us to take drastic action to buttress our global competitiveness. I do not think we will go into SI in good times.   When I first joined the battle for US metrication in 1974, I was talking about it with my sister, also a healthcare professional (a nurse). Even she objected, by saying, "That's not our culture."  The decimal system, not our culture? I protested, giving the example that the United States was the first nation to issue decimal currency, and the rest of the world followed us. She remains unsympathetic.   Even today, among US healthcare professionals, application of SI to daily life is at worst uncomfortable, and at best, irregular. When it comes to the patient's height, I always receive it from the nurses in feet and inches, yet these same nurses are anxious to convert the patient's weight to kilograms. The line of demarcation of systems of measurement is not at the front door of the hospital, as it should be; as an institution, we don't weigh patients on kilogram scales, measure their height with a metric ruler, or measure their body temperature in degrees Celsius. The demarcation of SI and "WOMBAT" (for Way Of Measuring Badly in America Today") also breaks down in the prescribing of liquid volumes as doses; our 21st century "scientists" take on the mantle of medieval physicians when they start writing prescriptions, and revert to teaspoonsful, tablespoonsful,  and fluid ounces.   Meanwhile, we have built a national infrastructure which is almost exclusively dependent upon WOMBAT. Oh, yes, there are occasional playings of pleasant music for us, such as the dedication of CalTrans (The California Department of Transportation) to SI conversion. But the words of the US Constitution, at least to me, reign supreme: only the Congress has the power to fix the standard of weights and measures in the United States, and US metrication will remain a kaleidoscope of opinions and feints until the federal legislature draws a metric line in the sand.    Cato always said, delenda est Cartago; I always say, Congress must create a real, live US Metric Board, accept its recommendations, and then act.   OK, this is the type of thing I always write when I return to this list after a long absence which is usually inspired by the technical nitpicking I usually read on here, and you will nitpick me again, and I will leave again, but I will always return. I've been returning to this issue for 28 years, and I will continue with it until the signs on I-20 in Midland tell me that it's 480 km to El Paso, with no mention of any other units of linear measure.   Paul Trusten, R.Ph. 3609 Caldera Boulevard, Apartment 122 Midland TX 79707-2872 USA 432-694-6208 [EMAIL PROTECTED]   "There are two cardinal sins, from which all the others spring: impatience and laziness."                           ---Franz Kafka