When I was in elementary school in the mid 70's, we were taught the metric system. The teachers told us it was the way of the future and we needed to catch up with the rest of the world in out measurement system. Well, here we are 40 years later and I still drive my car 65 miles per hour (no mention of kilometers). I still order a pound of ham at the deli (no mention of kilograms). I still measure everything in inches and feet (no mention of centimeters or meters). I still buy a gallon of milk and a quart of juice. I still say it's hot when it's 95 degrees (fahrenheit), but I still can't tell you what that is in celsius. Do you see what I mean? America still holds fast to its trusty ol' system of measurement.
However, there have been some gains for use of the metric system in the U.S. We buy our soda pop in 2 liter bottles. We measure our medicines in milligrams. We run the 100 meter dash and swim the 50 meter backstroke.
I am happy where we are with our measurement system. I don't see the U.S. ever converting to the metric system exclusively.
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