opinion

Contributing to an intelligent conversation

My son and daughter-in-law have a new car. I happened to be with them the other night when they stopped for gas. She pulled into a station and he got our of the passenger seat to pump the fuel. A couple of seconds passed before he knocked on the window and said, "Wrong side." We drove forward and turned around so gas could be pumped into the car.

After we were on the road again, my son remarked that all cars should have their gas caps on the same side. "They might as well," I said. "These days cars all look alike anyway." I continued my cliché-ridden argument. "It's not like it used to be. Automobile manufacturers used to pride themselves on style.

Our conversation turned standardization — what should be standardized and what should not. My son, whose training is in science, brought up the American resistance to the metric system. "We are still on what used to be called the English system of measurement," he said, "but not even the English use it anymore. Inches and feet, yards and miles, ounces and pounds, cups and quarts — there's no logic to any of it."

"There's no romance in today's cars. Take bucket seats," I said. "You never see a car with bench seats these days. I liked bench seats."

My daughter-in-law, who is an educator, brought up the use of standardized testing in our schools. "We spend too much time taking mandated tests," she said. "The teachers could use that time for teaching. We're either getting ready to take a test or trying to analyze what the students did on the last one."

"Bucket seats and seat belts have killed more young romances than halitosis," I said. "A couple could relax on a bench seat."

My son put in a word for the Celsius temperature scale. "What could be more logical than for water to boil at 100 degrees and freeze at zero degrees. No, we've decided to stay with Fahrenheit’s 32 and 212."

"And what ever happened to color?" I said. "We used to have bright-colored, two-toned cars that caught your eye. I had a Studebaker that was white with red trim. Now that was a car."

My daughter-in-law replied. "It all started when politicians got involved. And they’re not as interested in education as they are in a system that trains people to serve government and industry. In the meantime, what happens to music and art? Or drama. What about creativity?" She went on to express her opinion of what education should be. "It's not to make everyone the same. These kids have different abilities and we should make the best of what they have."

"Of course," my son said, "but some things should be uniform. Our students aren't doing well in math and science compared to students from other countries. I think one reason is that everything in our culture has a base 10 except our system of weights and measurements, and that's where it's most important."

"Back in my day," I said, "cars had personality. Some looked like they were going 60 miles an hour just sitting at the curb."

"Dad," my son said, "we're talking about conformity: education — where there's too much and science — where there's not enough. What do you think?"

"Well, if we're through talking about cars, I think television remotes should all be the same. Every time I pick one up, the buttons are in a different place."

There's nothing like good conversation among intelligent people.

Chuck Avery is a Hagerstown resident. Contact him at charlesravery@gmail.com