Either that or he may have been brilliant. The thought occurred to me he may have thought I said "6-7 **ounces**", instead of "point-six to point-seven pounds", in which case he was one of these mathematical wizzes that actually *understands* Imperial and was able to convert to 0.4 pounds instantly.
But that's beyond my capability, I'm just a dumb scientist who uses metric cause its simple. Nat -----Original Message----- From: m. f. moon [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, 2006 May 03 22:28 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [USMA:36716] Re: at the butcher It is entirely possible that he was illiterate. mm ------ Original Message ------ Received: Wed, 03 May 2006 06:34:58 PM PDT From: "Nat Hager III" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> Subject: [USMA:36716] Re: at the butcher I had an interesting experience a couple weeks ago at the supermarket. Not seeing a steak in the 0.6 to 0.7 pound range in the shrink-wrap case, I go to the butcher where some are visible in the window and ask for a steak in the "point-six to point-seven pound range". I've done this for 30 years and never had any problem, except having to remember this is a little over twice what it would be in kilograms. The guy picks out a steak and as I'm reading the electronic scale, proceeds to weigh out about 0.4 pounds. I say no, "point-six to point-seven pounds". He then cuts it paper-thin, less than 0.1 lbs. Exasperated I point to the electronic readout and say "can you make this read between "POINT-SIX and POINT-SEVEN??" Finally he gets close to 0.6 and I finally give up.... Wonder what was with this guy?... Nat -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Stephen Davis Sent: Wednesday, 2006 May 03 14:12 To: U.S. Metric Association Cc: USMA Subject: [USMA:36715] Re: at the butcher Pierre Abbat wrote: "I looked at the meat counter for a package of some cut I'm interested in. Finding none, I ask for 400 grams of boneless chicken thighs. "The butcher pulls out the tray of chicken thighs. "What's that in ounces or pounds?" I would say approximately 12.5 ounces. :-) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Pierre Abbat" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, May 02, 2006 2:43 AM Subject: [USMA:36714] at the butcher > Yesterday I went shopping. The buses for the Home Economist and > Talley's came > at the same time and I had an impulse to go to Talley's. I looked at > the meat > counter for a package of some cut I'm interested in. Finding none, I > ask for > 400 grams of boneless chicken thighs. > > The butcher pulls out the tray of chicken thighs. "What's that in > ounces or > pounds?" > > "I dunno." I have the conversion factor in a program, but it's not something I > keep in my head. > > He consults with some other people trying to figure it out. Meanwhile > I remember seeing a can labeled "15 oz 425 g", but he's too busy > talking with > them. He weighs some chicken thighs and wraps them up. > > I stuff some more food in my bag. A while later, I return to the meat counter > and pull out a four-pack of frozen açaí pulp, 100 grams each. "I > should have > gotten these first. They're 400 grams." > > I got home and weighed the package. It was 473 grams, including the paper. > > phma >
