Lately, I have not been able to kick THE BUG. I don’t know if it’s pregnancy or Atlanta’s wild temperature swings or what, but I have been rockin’ the fever more than ever. Not awesome.
The experience has, however, reminded me of one of those
amusing cross-cultural marriage moments that snuck up on me.
The first time our daughter was sick, I decided to try and
take her temperature. Oh… me and thermometers don’t get along. I think I have a
chemical imbalance in my skin that breaks them. They never work. It’s
ridiculous.
And we got this cool forehead thermometer before Ella was
born. I did not have the right kind of degree to work that bad boy. So, I went
back to the simple digital and stuck the little gadget under her arm. (Yeah,
I’m not really a committed enough mother to go for the anal thermometer. I
know… it’s more accurate. I’ll accept an estimation.)
Her temp rounded out about 100.7 or something. Nothing
really alarm worthy… or so I thought. Billy, however, was more than alarmed. (Overreact much?)
Naturally, he assumed (and he has the majority of the world
to back him up on this) that I was giving her temp in Celsius. That would be
the equivalent of me telling him her temp was approximately 213 degree Fahrenheit.
Yeah, he was alarmed.
Ah, the metric system. So logically simple, yet it escapes
me because I’ve grown up with every convoluted measuring system except that
one. Occasionally, Billy would mention that something was such-and-such
kilometers away. But that never mattered much because I actually measure
distance in minutes, so I needed a translation anyway.
But the thermometer keeps coming back. In Argentina, we had
to buy one because (surprise, surprise) the one I brought broke. The new one ONLY
measured in Celsius. It was basically worthless to me.
As recently as a couple weeks ago, Billy was bringing me a
thermometer and after pushing several buttons, he announced, “I put it on
Fahrenheit for you.” I mean, I really thought that went without saying. But I
guess not.
When it comes to illness and when to be alarmed, we both
need the information in our first language!
Are you on metric or standard measuring systems? Are you
able to switch back and forth?
The whole Celsius and Fahrenheit thing is crazy! We used to have a thermometer that also had a smiley face (good temp), straight face (minimal fever) and a sad face (high fever) along with the temperature so even if I didn't know the temp I'd know if it was serious! :)
ReplyDeleteNice! That's what I need! Something with pictures. :) Thanks, Taara.
DeleteToo funny! When you get a degree in science you do tend to learn the metric system and for a lot of things it makes so much more sense (I WISH we could cook in metric over here!) but unfortunately my brain still defaults to standard. So I can give you a rough estimation of a cup, but I'm not very good with mLs... :)
ReplyDeleteAnd don't ever ask me to drive in a country in kilometers... I'll be the granny making everyone want to commit road rage because I'll be afraid I'm going to fast!
You are not alone, I struggle with the metric system as well. I hope you feel better soon!
ReplyDeleteSo great to know I'm not by myself in this! :)
ReplyDelete"Overreact much?" HAHAHAHA perfectly hilarious link.
ReplyDelete