The the most obvious use of metric I see regularly are advertisements for carbonated beverages, e.g., Walgreens' marquee hawking 2-liter bottles of Coca Cola. Also, on bottled-water six-pack overwrapping, there are the words "HALF LITER" highlighted by a starburst, indicating that the bottler sells the product as hard metric.
Quoting Ezra Steinberg <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > There's lots of psychological studies to back up what Jim is saying. > Good observation, Jim. Thanks for bringing it up. > > Ezra > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "James Frysinger" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> > Sent: Sunday, November 25, 2007 11:32 AM > Subject: [USMA:39769] Re: Burma still using English units, it seems > > > > Ezra and all, > > > > Countless experiments have shown that people tend to see what they are > > looking for. Let's imagine tourists in Burma who are trying to fend for > > their needs. They are going to be on the lookout for something that seems > > familiar and that speaks to them in a language they understand. If they > > are typical American tourists they can tell you of the many places where > > they saw familiar units being used and that they don't recall any other > > units. If they are tourists from almost any other country, they will > > assure you that they saw zillions of metric indications and few, if any, > > non-metric units. > > > > We see this often in the U.S. I've had folks swear up and down that they > > never see metric units used anywhere and then I have them read the > > contents indication on their can of pop or the nutrition information on > > their snack package. Indeed, sometimes I've asked people to read me what > > the label claims to be on the 500 mL bottle of water and they just read me > > the number of pints and floozies shown in parentheses, skipping right over > > the "500 mL" that appears first. Yes, they realize that those "other" > > units are metric. However they didn't "see" them until then and if they > > had seen them earlier it didn't register long enough to create a memory of > > that. > > > > I've had beginning students in Physics who, during our first lab which is > > on metric unit familiarization, would wave their rulers in the air and > > proudly tell us that the college bookstore sells only "inch rulers". I > > would ask them to tell me what's on the other edge of that ruler and they > > are amazed at what suddenly appears there--namely centimeters. They truly > > had not "noticed" the metric scale on those rulers. > > > > I'm on the lookout for metric usage, so I see it quite often in the U.S. > > Pat Naughtin has seen them here quite often as well, but he's a "metric > > tourist" over here, so his eye gravitates to units with which he's > > familiar. Non-metric people who live here rarely "see" what we see. > > Actually they do see those metric units, but they don't notice them and > > the experience does not register. > > > > Jim > > > > Ezra Steinberg wrote: > >> Well, I would certainly take your direct observations as gold, Michael. > >> > >> I guess I don't undestand why the folks who posted replies to my query on > >> the Thorn Tree site would say otherwise. > >> Since it's a site for world travelers to help each other with questions > >> and issues, I assumed the posters were recent travelers to Burma, > >> themselves. > >> > >> Ah, well ... let the confusion begin! ;-) > >> > >> Cheers, > >> Ezra > >> > >> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Michael Payne" > >> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> > >> Sent: Sunday, November 25, 2007 8:09 AM > >> Subject: [USMA:39765] Re: Burma still using English units, it seems > >> > >> > >>> This contradicts my direct observation while I visited Burma in 1997, > >>> speedometers in cars I drove in were km/h and speed limits were > >>> (according to my driver) km/h but written in the local Burmese numerical > >>> script which was undecipherable to me, I asked out driver what the speed > >>> limit was, he told me the answer as ** km/h. I did see a Gas (Petrol) > >>> station with very old pumps that displayed in Imperial Gallons. The > >>> Burmese just seem to accept what's thrown at them, I doubt they import > >>> vehicles exclusively from the US, we have sanctions, so they come from > >>> neighboring countries which are exclusively metric, would not do much > >>> good to have mph speed limits when every car in the last 30 years has > >>> only km/h on the speedometer. If some piece of equipment comes from the > >>> US despite sanctions, they'll probably accept it as is. Fact is > >>> sanctions by the US against Burma are probably leading to less US units > >>> being seen there on any equipment. > >>> > >>> Michael Payne > >>> > >>> > >>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ezra Steinberg" > >>> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >>> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> > >>> Sent: Sunday, 25 November 2007 06:15 > >>> Subject: [USMA:39764] Burma still using English units, it seems > >>> > >>> > >>> USMA folks: > >>> > >>> I posted a couple of queries on a well-known travel site (Thorn Tree) > >>> that seems to get a lot of traffic from Europeans. > >>> I asked about the metric vs. Imperial situation in Burma (Myanmar) and > >>> Liberia, the two countries often cited aside from the USA as still using > >>> mostly Imperial. > >>> > >>> No replies about Liberia (and I may not get any), but I got several > >>> quick replies about Burma. These confirm that on road signs and in the > >>> street Imperial is used exclusively. > >>> > >>> Not earth-shattering news, to be sure, but at least it's up-to-date > >>> first-hand information from recent visitors there. > >>> > >>> Ezra > >>> > >> > >> > >> > >> > > > > -- > > James R. Frysinger > > 632 Stony Point Mountain Road > > Doyle, TN 38559-3030 > > > > (H) 931.657.3107 > > (C) 931.212.0267 > > > > > > -- Paul Trusten, R.Ph. Public Relations Director U.S. Metric Association, Inc. Phone +1(432)528-7724 www.metric.org 3609 Caldera Boulevard, Apartment 122 Midland TX 79707-2872 USA mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://oleapothecary.blog.com
