The Metric System

Honestly, I fail to see the value in a system based on 10’s versus one based on the major fractions, ½, 1/3 and ¼. It seems obvious to me that the fractional system is more practical and is what people relate to whereas the decimal one is just for the convenience of computers.

How much is 67 ml anyway? Try pouring out 67 ml sometime. Then try ¼ of a cup. See how easy that was? People use units of measure that are meaningful – a barrel of oil, a light year, a football field, a cup of water. These are not metric sizes. They may be translatable to metric equivalents but, fundamentally, they are different units of measure. Even when we use metric measures, we instinctively translate them to more meaningful terms than decimal – 2 1/2 centimetres not 2.5 centimetres.

It also sounds much easier to say inch, mile and acre than centimetre, kilometre and hectare. What an unwieldy multi-syllabic jargon is metric. After 33 years of living with the metric monster, I still refuse to use it. I still measure temperature in Fahrenheit, the efficiency of my car in MPG and distances in miles. Why? Because it is part of my heritage and metric is not. The Canadian government has systematically got rid of our heritage and it bothers me. Having been educated as a scientist, metric has never really been a problem as a system of measurement in scientific circles or when I travelled to other countries but when it comes to my heritage, I have to draw the line. The government is wholly to blame for this entrenchment. Their high-handed imposition of this really ticked me off.

I wondered why Canada would be going metric in the first place. It turns out that the US passed a law in the early 70’s that they would convert to metric by 1980. So Canada dutifully thought it should do the same. While Canada press ganged its citizens into metric, the US reversed its decision around 1977 or so – oddly enough, about the same time the metric commission was cancelled in Canada – because it felt its citizens would not accept it. This left us with the 25/75 mix of Imperial and metric that we have today. Gee, I wish our government had been as respectful of our wishes as the US government was of their citizens.

You may say, “Get over it. Metric is here to stay”. Maybe so but I’ll stick with my heritage thank you very much. I say the government should have listened to its people when they said no and I’ll never forgive them for not doing so. It’s a matter of principle. The government has done much it can to erase our heritage. No more coat of arms on the mailboxes, no more knighthoods, no more separate army, navy or air force, no more Black Watch regiment, overt religious symbols in the RCMP. Sigh. Every year some other piece of Canadian history seems to get erased. So saying “no to metric” is my way of protesting the loss of my culture and heritage. Canada is not the same place I grew up in and mores the pity. Culture doesn’t stand still but it doesn’t need a meddling, disrespectful government to change it.