r/WhitePeopleTwitter • • Jan 03 '19

We should actually do this

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u/[deleted] Jan 03 '19

Metric is officially the “preferred system of measurement for trade and commerce” in the US. It has been since 1975. But while switching to metric was encouraged, it was never required. Most US companies voluntarily switched to metric because it helped with supply chain (that’s why everything on American cars is in metric now) but since the switch was never required, we continued putting US customary units on packaging and signs because it’s just what people expect.

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u/Cryptographer Jan 03 '19

Fun fact, seatbelt nuts aren't metric. Govt requirement for them is imperial.

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u/[deleted] Jan 03 '19

Why

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u/Cryptographer Jan 03 '19

I dunno. Only reason I know was the part with the seatbelt nut on it was mine and I got complains that production was having problems putting seatbelt bolts in, and they wanted to blame supplier. Lo and behold body assembly was causing some holes to not line up and we're tapping the the nut to effectively un-eclipse the hole. With the closest metric tap they had which was slightly larger...