Today I shipped some packages via the local FedEx store in Oregon, USA. I asked the clerk if she could enter the "weight" of one of the packages in kilograms. She said no problem. She set the digital scale to display kilograms and the scale switched from 56 pounds to 25 kilograms. However when the scale sent the info to the computer, her computer screen showed 25 pounds instead of kilograms. She said there was no way she could fix it. She said that when the scale was installed, the installer asked if store wanted the metric portion of the scale to interface with the computer and she said no because they never use metric. She said that if I wanted, she could handwrite the kilograms onto the receipt, since the printed receipt will only show the weight in pounds.
I aksed her if she could enter the dimensions of the box in centimeters instead of inches. She said no because the computer screen does not give an option for switching the data field from inches to centimeters. I noticed that tape measures used by her and the other clerks has the FedEx logo on it, however both sides of the plastic tape measure are in inches - no metric units are on the tape measure anywhere. It appears that the local FedEx stores are not setup to use metric. While at the store I mentioned that the European Union will require all consumer goods to have metric only lables 10 years from now (I should have said by the year 2010). That comment received a chuckle from a male store customer. I then said that the US Commerce department and Congress have both stated that metric is the preffered system of measurement. That comment received some gasps from several people in the store. The man who chucked then said that people are not being taught metric in school. I then said that USA schools have taught metric since I was in grade school! The man then said that real reason why people are not using metric more in the USA is that most don't want to. Gavin Young http://www.xprt.net/~hightech , http://www.renewableelectricity.com, http://www.electric-automobile.com
