A few observations clashed today as I was running errands, gathering information, eating lunch and otherwise goofing off. One of these grand illuminations falls into my "I don't like it and you shouldn't either" category. More on that in a bit.Tourist season is in full swing and part of that includes the myriad of events that are filling the streets with French speaking, Yankee lovin' , driving-impared, money spending idiots.
First up is the Cooper River Bridge Run this Saturday. 40,000 people exerting great energy to see their name listed 7,842nd in the paper. And the reality is 4 guys named Kip from Kenya will be finished and on a plane home before most people get over the bridge.
In a few weeks is the Family Circle Cup Tennis Tournament. Now this is a cool event. On Daniel Island, it has all sorts of venues , food and fun crap. The only draw-back in recent years is that all the top players commit and then half back out because of "injuries". This year 10 of the top 13 in the world are scheduled. Hopefully they will all appear. But more importantly , hopefully Maria Sharapova will stop her unwanted advances toward me.
Rounding out the early season events is Spoleto Festival USA. This is one of the biggest and grandest 2 weeks of its kind. Never really got into it but its a big deal for many and brings in people from everywhere. Of course the un-official motto here is "Don't bend over to pick up your wallet." I know, that's crass but I don't make the rules.
This brings me to my issue of the day.
While many of the visitors are international, here as well as New York, L.A. , San Francisco et al, we are still in America. And correct me if I'm wrong but didn't we reject the metric system many years ago? I've never put much thought into it until today. But while comparing post-brush tooth rinse (I figure some calcium dependant parts above my shoulders should be healthy) I noticed that they are strictly listed in milliliters. No ounces or quarts even mentioned.
Why do we keep up this charade? I'm sure Hanz from Belgium is very happy not to have to pull out his converter chart but this does you or me no good. I'm a bit miffed that we've idly sat by and let the Cola industry get away with selling us the ever-popular 2 -Liter. So help me I will forsake milk if they ever try and sell me anything other than a "Gallon". Maybe this is what's wrong with our economy. Perhaps a sternly worded letter to Bernard Bernake down at the Federal Reserve will open some eyes. This is also probably the problem with gas prices. How can we, as informed consumers, buy such a valuable product packaged in the ever-sensible gallon unit after we've been brainwashed by the metric nazis? The whole system is out of order. While we're on liquids, do you ever notice how people say "Drink plenty of liquids" when you're sick ? What else are you going to drink? ! Solids ? Gases?
Man did I just waste 20 minutes.
5 comments:
Thanks for the tips. I think we'll miss those events when we're in town but I'll try and curse a tourist just the same. Get back with me about the yadda yadda.. A
Oops, I forgot. Go SunDevils !!
I remember having to learn all that metric garbage in the 2nd grade. Our teacher told us that "one day everything will be metric and the rest of the world already uses it". Maybe this is what Mrs. Nicholson was warning us about! If I had only paid closer attention!
The line between math and marketing is blurred in this case. Coke might not consider selling a 2qt bottle o' pop. This might be becuase you can buy Old English 800 by the quart. Milk, Inc. will always sell gallons because that's what people have always bought. The gasoline industry might be able to sell regular unleaded to us for a short time at $4/litre before we realize we're getting ripped off. Quick, someone invent an engine that runs on Coke or milk!!!
Hmmm, runs on Coke and Milk?... Alex, I'll say What is Courtney Love and a Cow?
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