If an impending hurricane was predicted to have a six meter storm surge, 180 kilometer-per-hour winds and bring 176 centimeters of rain, Americans would miss the evacuation trying to remember the metric conversions they learned in third grade.

Opponents to metric system adoption call it un-American, impractical and expensive — the reality is that increasing international trade has already required much of America to convert. The choice to keep Fahrenheit, pounds and inches in everyday life is largely cultural and adds an unnecessary barrier to a globalizing world.

A relatively recent Time article said America’s use of both systems has the same benefits as bilingualism. This clearly is not the case, as I have never heard someone repeat measurements in each system or even use them interchangeably. I have, however, seen an American dressed in winter clothes abroad because they interpreted “30 degrees” as cold.

Many of the international students I interviewed at USC said that they have been interrupted mid-sentence because Americans need to clarify measurements, and this is embarrassing for both involved. International students also have to struggle with the conversions required for math and science classes, and even things as simple as grocery shopping and cooking can be confusing. Navigating with a GPS that operates in miles is just as difficult as trying to follow speed limit signs, and so on.

While it is easy to consider these problems as irrelevant to Americans, let us not forget that every issue faced by international students on this campus applies the same or worse to Americans who go abroad or work with an international company. The refusal to adopt the globally-accepted system of measurement is our loss, not everyone else’s.

It is no surprise that most countries chose the metric system as it makes a lot more sense. One of the international students I interviewed asked me what the boiling point was in Fahrenheit, and I realized I was not even sure. The number 100 kept coming to mind, but I suppose even as a third grader I knew that one system was easier to understand than the other.

America — I get it, it always hurts to be looked over. The French metric system developed at roughly the same time as our system, and the rest of the world adopted theirs instead of ours. We gave it our best shot, but it is time to swallow our nationalism and accept that our system is never going to happen.