Hi, everyone, An inhabitant of the New Hampshire-Vermont area, named David Kittredge, has penned an opinion piece titled Renaissance Redneck: Measure for measure in which he has second thoughts about rejecting the metric system when it was first offered to the American public.
It is in the Eagle Times which covers Claremont, Charlestown, Cornish, Newport, Plainfield and Unity in New Hampshire and Ascutney, Springfield, Weathersfield and Windsor in Vermont. He admits to being one of the Baby Boomer generation, (as am I,) and confesses: We stubborn opponents of this change kicked and screamed using the argument that this move would be very costly, having to replace the millions of road signs along our highways and byways to the metric system. Our argument was one of bait and switch, in that psychologically we were afraid of the proposed conversion, but rather than admit it, we argued the money aspect. For seven years, until 1982, the U.S. populace was bombarded with government, tax dollar-backed, propagandized television commercials trying to convince us that the metric conversion was the sensical choice to bring the U.S. into a globally synchronized system of measurement. But most of us, who were mentally clothed in the foot, yard, and 5,280 feet per mile syndrome, hunkered down fearing the worst, the decimal system, where all measurements are based on quantities of 10. In fact, if the metric system of road sign distances had been implemented, I am sure I would have become comfortable with it by now, 46 years later. I sure hate to rush into things. He notes that the metric system has infiltrated American life and mentions the metric system is used in "food container measurements, foreign cars with the metric-sized bolts and nuts, and most mechanical contraptions we use today” not realising that American cars have been metric for over forty years. He also says that it is easier to learn than American Customary measurements. I have posted a link to his essay on Reddit’s metric forum. Any comments will be here: https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.reddit.com%2Fr%2FMetric%2Fcomments%2Fnirddz%2Frenaissance_redneck_measure_for_measure_eagle%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cusma%40lists.colostate.edu%7Ca30902d4a3634aa9a87f08d91d6642ab%7Cafb58802ff7a4bb1ab21367ff2ecfc8b%7C0%7C0%7C637573147330777071%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=D4KsQEOqCSyAyHlEG7rZCTFIifcbh1aamtvdI4QTopM%3D&reserved=0 <https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.reddit.com%2Fr%2FMetric%2Fcomments%2Fnirddz%2Frenaissance_redneck_measure_for_measure_eagle%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cusma%40lists.colostate.edu%7Ca30902d4a3634aa9a87f08d91d6642ab%7Cafb58802ff7a4bb1ab21367ff2ecfc8b%7C0%7C0%7C637573147330777071%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=D4KsQEOqCSyAyHlEG7rZCTFIifcbh1aamtvdI4QTopM%3D&reserved=0> If anyone wishes to register and make a comment, the article is here: https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eagletimes.com%2Flifestyles%2Frenaissance-redneck-measure-for-measure%2Farticle_3e60e80c-1941-5ecf-9b5e-3a6a0ad7258e.html&data=04%7C01%7Cusma%40lists.colostate.edu%7Ca30902d4a3634aa9a87f08d91d6642ab%7Cafb58802ff7a4bb1ab21367ff2ecfc8b%7C0%7C0%7C637573147330777071%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=FaozR%2Bd0ClDKIsAaRp8Vmtdhzne4m5qa4kWseLAqH8k%3D&reserved=0 <https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eagletimes.com%2Flifestyles%2Frenaissance-redneck-measure-for-measure%2Farticle_3e60e80c-1941-5ecf-9b5e-3a6a0ad7258e.html&data=04%7C01%7Cusma%40lists.colostate.edu%7Ca30902d4a3634aa9a87f08d91d6642ab%7Cafb58802ff7a4bb1ab21367ff2ecfc8b%7C0%7C0%7C637573147330777071%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=FaozR%2Bd0ClDKIsAaRp8Vmtdhzne4m5qa4kWseLAqH8k%3D&reserved=0> (Registration is free, but you have to tick a box to prove that you are not a robot.) Best wishes, Peter Goodyear, Melbourne, Australia e-mail: [email protected]
_______________________________________________ USMA mailing list [email protected] https://lists.colostate.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/usma
