The European Commission has tired of waiting for the UK to give up imperial measurements, and now says it can use some of them. In that light, English people can continue to confuse visitors with the pound, the ounce and the mile for as long as they want. Although some experts claim that the metric system was originally invented in England before being adopted by the French, English people have barricaded behind the imperial measurements, absurdly making it a question of national pride.
Some people say that that’s exactly why we love the English, because they are different.
I am not so sure I enjoyed their inclination towards peculiarity when we tried to board the ferry that was going to take us from Spain back to England this summer though. We were travelling with our dog Tim, which had to be treated against worms and ticks before what we understood was 48 hours. Having visited the vet in Santander the morning before embarking, we innocently queued on the pier until they singled us out. The dog’s Dutch passport was incomplete, and the worm treatment had to be given after 48 hours before embarking but before 24 hours before embarking. Confused? So were we. Any alternatives? Yes, you can either wait in Santander for the next ferry which will depart in a week’s time or drive 1000 kilometres to France and take the next one tomorrow, by then the treatment will be in the right time window.
Sorry, how many miles to France did you say?
