Dumb fruit sellers

DadaKopf

What's with this thing what those English fruit sellers being prosecuted by the European court for selling fruit in imperial measurements.

I really haven't an opinion on this yet. Either, it's really, really stupid or something necessary foe European integration, no matter how frivolous it seems.

Sky News (not independent minded at all) claims that 70% of British people want to keep imperial measurements. Whether this is true or not, does it really matter? Or, should it matter?

Patently it does. But who should win? Clearly, both sides are being reactionary. The British are pretending it's some kind of further threat to their national identity (I mean, can people really be emotionally attached to a measurement system?) or the EU is claming the fruit sellers' actions are a threat to the various cultural or (predominantly) economic integration.

What does anyone think about this? Necessary enforcement of a necessary law or superficial and pedantic? Who is wrong?

Samson

In my opinion the British would take the exact opposite stance if things were reversed.
Simply put: "We don't want dirty Johnny Foreigner telling us what unit of measurement/currency etc. to use"

This probably goes back a long way to the Imperial days when they looked down on the rest of the world.
The foreigners are getting above their station and need to be stopped in their tracks.

The Brits are not team players within the EU and I reckon that if they don't get in on the EMU soon they should be politely asked to p!ss or get off the pot.

Blair et al appears to want to integrate more with the EU/EMU but there still seems to be a blue conservative attitude/union jack boxer short attitude prevailing.
:rolleyes:

scipio_major

It seems like an EU power trip to me. Up until recently (June) I regular bought a quarter pound of sweets in a certain sweet shop in Tuam. A quarter pound was just the right amount and cost a very reasonable 30p. My point is that there are still a load of people in this country who are happy to hang onto a few imperial units. I for one still think in miles, and I was never taught it in school though.

Since Metric units are soooo much easier to do math with, and consequently easier to teach, it won't be long before they stop teachin it in school (If they haven't already). Given enough time it will just die out. The EU can wait IMHO.

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Scipio_major

Hobbes

From what I gather there is nothing to stop them from putting Imperial weights on thier goods.

However there must also be a metric weight and it must be the larger (in physical size) of the two. The sellers are refusing to put the metric weight on.

So it's the sellers being the asses not the EU.

Hobbes

Originally posted by scipio_major
Since Metric units are soooo much easier to do math with

Actually Imperial wieghts is easier to do maths with, especially when dealing with splitting costs (eg. Splitting bill at end of meal).

eg. 10 = 5, 2, 1. 12 = 1,2,3,4,6

Shinji

That's a bit of an objective thing really Hobbes - most people are a lot more used to calculating in base10 so metric makes more sense.

It is the market traders being stupid - they're perfectly entitled to use whatever measure they want, as long as they use metric as well. How difficult can this possibly be? Kids in school are all taught metric, surely it makes sense to use that as well as Imperial if not instead of Imperial...

Biffa Bacon

I believe the reason the EU wants them to use metric is because there is the danger of people being ripped off if they don't understand imperial. I can't stand this business of people sneering at the English, though, just because they want to protect parts of their history and culture. It's smug and condescending.

gandalf

To be honest people should be free to sell their goods whatever way they want as long as they are not ripping the general public off (except in Ireland of course :mad: ).

To be honest I think this has as much relevance to everyday life as that "straight banana" arguement from the EU a couple of years ago.

If people want to sell by Imperial weight and Joe Q Public wanst to buy in Imperial weight then they should be allowed measure by Imperial weight.

Gandalf.

Shiminay

It's a case of people being used to stuff in Imperial measurement - we still talk of how many stone someone weighs, how many miles it is to get somewhere etc.

It should be done away with like the punt! Force retailers to deal in metric units rather than imperial and make sure all road signs say KM rather than miles (but I think this has been the case in Ireland for quite some time with all recent road signs).

I have no idea how much a kilo of beef is, but I could guess what a pound is. Soon we could all be eating a Royale with cheese!

Shinji

If people want to sell by Imperial weight and Joe Q Public wanst to buy in Imperial weight then they should be allowed measure by Imperial weight.

It's a case of people being used to stuff in Imperial measurement - we still talk of how many stone someone weighs, how many miles it is to get somewhere etc.

Here's a thing. My parents - in their fifties/sixties - think in pounds, stone, miles etc.

People ten years older than me - and some of my generation - think in the same terms.

I wouldn't know a stone or a hundredweight if it fell on me. I find it easier to think in kilometres and centimetres than in feet. SI units make more sense to me, and probably to a lot of other people of my generation and younger.

It's just change. People accept it and move on. Nobody is forcing these guys or their customers to move to Metric, they're just being asked to use imperial AND metric to allow for the fact that we are changing over. The fuss is just ignorant British tabloids shouting about the death of British culture... It says a lot about british "culture" that they think it can be killed by changing the way they weigh bananas.

Victor

Originally posted by gandalf
If people want to sell by Imperial weight and Joe Q Public wanst to buy in Imperial weight then they should be allowed measure by Imperial weight.

IIRC, all the regulations insist on is that pricing be also in metric (prices, mass (weight), volumes, etc.) with metric first and more prominant. They can actually weigh it any way (pun!) they want once the customer is reassured that they are being charged as advertised (to be reassured many customers will want it in metric). It is merely a marketing ploy to make prices 'look' cheaper - which looks cheaper a pork chop at €8.00/kg or the same at €3.64/lb (€8.00/kg = €3.64/lb).

With property, you now have gobsheens quoting €40/sqft (alternatively quoted as €430.60/sqm, £31.50/sqft, or £339.12/sqm).

The object of the resistance to change to metric measurement in trade is is to blur price comparison in the market place and more importantly rip off customers

smiles

Originally posted by Shinji
I wouldn't know a stone or a hundredweight if it fell on me. I find it easier to think in kilometres and centimetres than in feet. SI units make more sense to me, and probably to a lot of other people of my generation and younger.

Originally posted by Samson
This probably goes back a long way to the Imperial days when they looked down on the rest of the world.
The foreigners are getting above their station and need to be stopped in their tracks.

I don't that is exactly accurate, i'd say it is much more of a force of habit that anything else! i mean _I_ think in imperial most of the time and i'm not trying to harp back to the "good old imperial days" ! :P

The Brits are not team players within the EU and I reckon that if they don't get in on the EMU soon they should be politely asked to p!ss or get off the pot.

Britian has contributed a lot to the EU, but dont see how being part of the EMU at the time they had to decide would help them (and **** it, they were right, i mean their economy/currency is doing far better than the majority of european ones because they have been able to maintain it through fiscal policy that wouldnt be available to them if they had of joined). But thinking them not being part of the EMU means they arent "team players" in the EU is a very very narrow minded approach!

there still seems to be a blue conservative attitude/union jack boxer short attitude prevailing.
:rolleyes:

got to love that quote! :P

<< Fio >>

Shinji

But thinking them not being part of the EMU means they arent "team players" in the EU is a very very narrow minded approach

It's entirely true though. Most British people don't think of their economy or anything sensible like that when they blather mindlessly about Europe; their opinions due to entrenched nationalist, anti-European views.

There's still a huge weight of Imperialist feeling in Britain; you find it in every walk of life here. The people of Britain aren't team players in the EU, it's that simple; when the country initially joined the EEC, there was a definite feeling of "going into Europe to show Johnny Foreigner how its done", and that hasn't entirely abated; instead it's been replaced by isolationism, or, in some cases, outright racism and anti-Europe sentiment.