I remember as a kid thinking that my mom was SO good at doing quick conversions between metric and imperial. Offhand, she used feet instead of meters though, so, of course, us kids inquired why. My mom's education happened to coincide with the switch from imperial to metric, so she had to learn both in school. I really think this was lucky for her, but she claims it was a major inconvenience and caused no end of frustration for her.
I am extremely fond of the metric system, and that grateful that this is what we use in Canada if for no other reason than its universality. I'd chuckle blithely at American friends, forever fumbling with rough conversions to get Fahrenheit from Celsius. The picture below shows the rate of voluntary metrication.
I can't laugh to hard though as I'm am not beyond this frustration, since in Canada we have yet to pick a side and stick to it! For example, personal height and weight are always expressed imperially. While living in Korea, I had to relearn my height and weight metrically and was always a little uneasy describing myself in centimeters. As a cashier at Loblaws, customers often got exasperated attempting to get accurate price for the items they bought. Prices were quoted per pound, but then rung up in kilograms, meaning costs inevitably differed from their estimates.
Smart phones and quick online searches (like the one pictured below) are a big help now, but they are not helping us understand the mixed messages us Canuks receive. A few benchmarks should be memorized (e.g. a meter is about 3 feet, a kilograms is about 2 pounds), as should a few rough formulas for quick assistance (e.g. to get Fahrenheit from Celsius multiply by 2 and add 30).
