The US gets ragged on because we use Fahrenheit and pounds. The UK gets it because they drive on the “wrong side of the road.” Bulgarians shake their heads yes, and nod their heads no. There are still cannibals in Papua New Guinea.
There are quirks everywhere, people with different habits.
The world is becoming a smaller place, though. How long will it be before the US converts to the metric system? It’s probably a ways off, but not as far as one might think.
And while the world is getting smaller, it is also changing in other ways. People are more mobile, and have tools which enable them to sustain maintain elements of their lifestyle while on the move. Money, keys and a cell phone – that’s all you need these days and you can go pretty much anywhere.
As someone who has been on the move for the last seven years, I can attest to the fact that it has gotten mush easier to operate from disparate locations. I used to say, “All I need is a Starbucks and I’m good to go.” Now, though, I just need to know where the closest cell coverage is and I can work from an iPhone.
All that moving about, though, has introduced a new level of complexity to my life. It’s name? Time Zone. I loathe having to figure out the difference between Australia, California, New York, London, and Second Life (heh). I hate tinkering with the dates and times on my photos from a business trip so that I can put them side by side with those my wife took while I was away. It irks me that I can’t tell Vista that my personal account should be on Central European Time, while my work account should be on Pacific Standard Time.
I think I’m just going to make everything GMT. You should, too. We should all just use GMT. Forget about time zones. They’re dumb.
So is daylight sayings, by the way. Let’s get rid of that, too.