Can confirm. I pedest, and it’s more useful for me to know how long it will take to get somewhere than how far away that somewhere is. One effects my time of departure, the other is just a fun fact.
this picture is 27kb
Submitted 6 months ago by alyth@lemmy.world to [deleted]
https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/47783012-5ae9-4998-ac28-5b45a3414111.webp
Comments
Sotuanduso@lemm.ee 6 months ago
iwasgodonce@lemmy.world 6 months ago
In utah, I can average 80 mph on a road trip, in the houston texas area I can go maybe 20 mph average, so time is a lot more useful of a measure.
dingus@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Yeah I’m a tad confused at why it’s weird to measure by time. If I’m trying to get somewhere deep in the city vs on highway traffic the whole time vs something in between the two, the same distance will give you radically different times to traverse it.
It’s also useful to give other people time estimates. Isn’t it more useful to tell your boss that you’ll be 15 minutes late versus the distance away in miles or kilometers? How about when you’re a guest arriving at someone’s house? Isn’t it more logical to tell them you’re 30 minutes from arrival as opposed to giving them the exact distance away in km or mi, especially when they might not know whether you’re arriving from a high traffic area or not?
There is a lot you can criticize the US for and it would be totally valid. This one is bizarre and unwarranted.
alyth@lemmy.world 6 months ago
I didn’t mean to criticize anything, only to illustrate the difference c:
Btw Europeans also use minutes for most of the situations you mentioned. The difference is only really obvious for fixed distances like “I live X minutes from my family” vs “I live X km from my family”
socphoenix@midwest.social 6 months ago
We moved to Colorado and 10 miles takes me about 15 minutes to cross the city we’re in, 30 in traffic. Where we grew up 10 miles around the city was 1-2 hours regardless of time of day (except maybe 2am). The country is just way too diverse for distance to be nearly as meaningful at transit time.
aeronmelon@lemmy.world 6 months ago
“The British think 100 miles is a long way.
The Americans think 100 years is a long time.”
alcoholicorn@lemmy.ml 6 months ago
How is 100 miles a long way? It’s like an hour and a half.
storcholus@feddit.de 6 months ago
100 miles means I will likely never visit you
Kolanaki@yiffit.net 6 months ago
45 minutes by car.
28 hours on foot.
Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Unless you’re trying to get across San Francisco, New York, Austin, or LA in mid day traffic. Then it’s 45 min by foot, and 28 hours by car.
Kolanaki@yiffit.net 6 months ago
IDK about NYC, man. I was there once and my initial impression was media lied about the traffic. There was no cars anywhere; but the sidewalks were crowded as fuck. 🤣
Semi-Hemi-Demigod@kbin.social 6 months ago
I drove a lady home from a party in NYC at like midnight, and I said "Oh, it's only five miles that won't be bad"
It took an hour to get there and back. I wasn't really mad because she was cute and maybe into me but we could have walked that distance in the same amount of time.
BanjoShepard@lemmy.world 6 months ago
In the Midwest, we sometimes measure distance in number of songs.
KingJalopy@lemm.ee 6 months ago
My daughter is always asking how long until whatever and I usually say 3 SpongeBobs or however many SpongeBobs or takes
deranger@sh.itjust.works 6 months ago
I do this with Titanic for long trips / flights.
xx3rawr@sh.itjust.works 6 months ago
My commute was an album and an EP long
aeronmelon@lemmy.world 6 months ago
“It takes two and a half Hamiltons to get to uncle Jack’s house.”
Sabata11792@kbin.social 6 months ago
Must be a small pic, it loaded in less than 0.1% of a football game.
bquintb@midwest.social 6 months ago
Jokes on you…I measure in Freedom Eagles per Hamburger
Altofaltception@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Canadians*
Track_Shovel@slrpnk.net 6 months ago
We relate distances in drive times around here
MxM111@kbin.social 6 months ago
Same as physicist measuring interval in special relativity. And I am talking about the bottom picture.
Bye@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Is that instrument cluster from a jeep zj?
alyth@lemmy.world 6 months ago
how are you so smart commons.m.wikimedia.org/…/File:Jeep_Odometer.jpg
DdCno1@kbin.social 6 months ago
Would you describe someone who has likely driven a Jeep as smart?
Flixich@feddit.de 6 months ago
I thought it’s a joke about Boeing, but the ‘n’ was missing
PP_BOY_@lemmy.world 6 months ago
alyth@lemmy.world 6 months ago
metres per hour
PP_BOY_@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Sounds shockingly accurate for most European domestic cars
Skua@kbin.social 6 months ago
we clearly haven't brexited hard enough yet