My brother's girlfriend had their first child in November. His (the baby, not
my brother!!) weight was expressed in lb and oz although I would have thought
that if they had asked for it they could have been told the metric values too.>
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected]> Subject: [USMA:40049] Re:
Hostile reactions to "speaking metric".> Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2008 21:59:13 +0000>
> The norm in the UK is for the medical records to be kept in metric units,>
but for some reason weights seem to be published in imperial units. My own>
children are now in their early 20's, but what I recall is that when they> were
born, I was given their weights in metric units. I don't know if> things have
regressed since then.> > -----Original Message-----> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf> Of Michael Palumbo> Sent: 14 January 2008
17:14> To: U.S. Metric Association> Subject: [USMA:40047] Re: Hostile reactions
to "speaking metric".> > Paul,> > A valid theory, absolutely. Once Megan
apologised for yelling, I asked > her whether or not it had anything to do with
the fact that it was a > baby. Her curt response was, "No, I don't care that
it's a baby, you > just sound like a d**k."> > And there you have it. I'm more
inclined to believe that because she > can't translate from wombat to metric,
that she thinks I'm insulting her > intelligence or belittling her, hence her
aggressive, brash reaction.> > Cheers,> -Mike> > Paul Trusten wrote:> >
Michael,> >> > I think Megan reacted to your metricating a /baby. /If you had >
> metricated a purchase of kumquats or the area to be occupied by some > > new
linoleum tiles, I don't think she would reacted as viciously. I > > understand
that, even in some metric countries, babies are WOMBATs at > > birth. Somehow,
people think the humanity of birth is taken away when > > the child's units of
mass/weight are stated in SI. When it comes to > > the celebration of a new
baby, pounds and ounces seem to be > > appropriately warm and fuzzy, while
kilograms and grams seem to be > > madly scientific, or, controlled substance
contraband (/Flying into > > Los Angeleez, bringing in a couple of keys/) .> >>
> Thank you for posting this. It is a very important issue in our quest > > for
U.S. metrication. I try to be prepared for reactions like this, > > but the
ugly head of metrophobia surfaces so quickly upon mention of > > metric in the
U.S. that I surely do have to be bit prepared when I > > make a metric remark.
When I do it, I often am made to feel as if I am > > one of the African
American students who first sat at the Woolworth's > > lunch counter down south
in 1960. > >> > I would that metric is as simple as our decimal dollars and > >
cents---or, would Megan like to return to the pounds, shillings, and > > pence
of our colonial days? Your goal with encounters like this is to > > appear to
explain this as a matter of fact, and not as a lecture, so > > the recipient
will feel, "Gee, where I have I been? Do my friends know > > this?"> >> >
Although we in the U.S. do use the metric system,we don't use it often > >
enough, and the result is that we /mis/understand it, not /fail /to > >
understand it. The solution to misunderstanding is education. That's > > why
USMA supports the teaching of the metric system exclusively > > (i.e., no more
teaching inch-pound units) in America's schools. If > > Congress says metric is
preferred for commerce, it should be preferred > > for learning as well.> >> >>
> Paul> >> >> > Michael Palumbo wrote:> >> Has anyone else had something like
this happen to them?> >>> >> Last week, my coworker's wife had a child, and we
did the "guess the > >> gender and weight" contest that we always do in our
office.> >>> >> I guessed an even 3000 grams, and was the closest; the baby was
2981 > >> grams. I had to translate the numbers for a few people, but no one >
>> really minded that I submitted my answer in metric.> >>> >> Last night, I
was recalling this story to my friend Megan while in > >> the car, and her
reaction to it was *this* shy of violent. She began > >> screaming at me,
telling me how much of a (insert various four > >> letters words here) I am for
using a system that no one else > >> understands. Her basic points were, if I
ascertained them correctly > >> in between her ranting:> >> - "No one"
understands the metric system, therefore it's off-putting > >> for me to use
it.> >> - It's "extremely rude" to speak in a manner that people don't > >>
understand.> >> - It's "moronic" and stinks of me just trying to "be different
and > >> weird for the sake of being different and weird".> >>> >> I told her
that I wasn't going to listen to her insult me, dropped > >> her at her house,
and left.> >>> >> I cannot, for the life of me, understand that type of
reaction. My > >> office-mates, even when they don't directly understand it,
have a > >> pretty good idea of what I'm talking about. Rather than try to
learn > >> something new, Megan's reaction is what I fear may be typical of
many > >> people in this country. Either you act like everyone else, or you'll
> >> be branded a nut-case. Never mind that most of the world uses this > >>
system, never mind that the foreigners in this country use it, never > >> mind
that the doctor who delivered the baby used it, *I* am not > >> supposed to
because it makes her think, and she can't handle that.> >>> >> Regards,> >>
-Mike> >>> >>> >>> >>> >> > -- > > Paul Trusten, R.Ph.> > Acting Secretary> >
The Pharmacy Alliance> > Midland TX 79707-2872 USA> > +1(432)528-7724> >
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/ThePharmacyAlliance> >> > > >>
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