The case for the decimal week
Created | Updated Jun 27, 2002
I was very sceptical when this idea was first presented to me but the more I think about it the more sense it makes. People complained when we decimalised the British currency (as I'm sure they will when we convert to the Euro) but after 30 years few of us could imagine a pound that contained 240 pence or twenty shillings. What sense could it make? Even the oldest of the population would have to admit that it makes more sense to have one hundred pence in a pound, a thousand pounds in a grand and five hundred pounds in a monkey (Americans – please do not take this literally. We are in fact a nation of animal lovers).
As a total aside I was in fact born in 1972, the year of UK decimalisation and sure enough I have the tell tale ten fingers and ten toes. Of course, I've never had to deal with money pre-decimalisation so some might say I can't make a comparison, I do however still have to deal with pounds and ounces. To my simple mind this is very confusing. Maybe it’s a failing of the education system but I never did quite get to grips with pounds, ounces and of course stones. Is it sixteen pounds in a stone or fourteen? Sixteen ounces in a pound, I know that much. This does not follow any logical pattern. Grams and kilogram’s anyone?? I have to say it makes more sense to me.
Anyway, I stray from the point so lets get back to it. The proposed decimal week consists of ten days. Now before you jump up and down and get all excited hear me out. Of course a decimal week would have to consist of ten days. This is the deal, we work for six days and have a healthy four day weekend. Now I hear some of you coming round to my way of thinking all of a sudden.
A two day weekend is just not practical. The first day you spend getting over the week and catching up with chores, washing and the like and the second you spend dreading Monday. Not healthy.
With the decimal week you get a whopping four day weekend. Imagine the possibilities, the chores done you have three whole days to get on with the things you don't have time to do at the moment. Writing that novel at last or maybe a spot of decorating. This would also make a weekend away worthwhile and the knock on effect on the travel industry would surely stimulate the economy.
OK, it's not all good news. Hanging on for ten weeks before you get paid again is going to be hard work. Especially with those long weekends to spend in but that's a penalty I'm prepared to deal with. The other major problem, and this is a biggy, is the availability of light. Now Mother Nature doesn't follow the decimal rule and there's a reason for that. The earth spins around one full circuit in 24 hours – that gives a fairly steady and reliable portion of night and day. A decimal day would have to consist of either ten or 100 hours. Now 100 hours in a day would quite frankly be just too much so ten hours it is. Of course each of the ten decimal hours will have 100 minutes and each minute 100 seconds, which means there is 1 old minute and 40 old seconds to every new minute. You follow? This means a total for the day of 27 old hours and 46 old minutes, an excess of 3 old hours and 36 old minutes leisure time.
So the problem is if the earth spins round once in 24 hours after four days we would be approximately 12 (old) hours ahead of ourselves. In other words you would be having lunch in the dark. The answer - simply shorten the second, this also has several unexpected advantages. A shorter second means that the world record for the 100m (9.79 old seconds) is now around 16.3 decimal seconds, now even I could beat that.
The extra three old hours and 46 old minutes per day will along with the new decimal hours will have a major impact on life. Drivers will no longer speed along at 50 mph (30mph non decimal) in residential areas they will be forced down to 30 decimal miles per hour (18 old miles per hour). This will dramatically reduce accidents and with a whole 3 hrs and 46 old minutes extra per day people will be much more relaxed and so will naturally fit in to the new speed limits. Best of all if we keep pub closing time at 11pm we can drink all day, as late as we like!
Of course clocks will have to be redesigned and this may be cause some confusion but with our new ages (I will be only 15 years old as opposed to 30) we will have practically grown up with the new system and at the very least be young enough to cope with the change.
Now here we highlight another slight problem, at 15 I will not be old enough to drink. Clearly this age needs to be changed. By my estimation 18 old years equals nine new years and 36 decimal months. Now as we all know nine year olds are much more sensible than 18 year olds and more likely to moderate their drinking, putting an end to drunken gangs of teenagers on the streets. So nine years and 36 months it is.
Let us imagine the scene once the decimalised week is in place. We look at a typical teenager, sixteen year old Sheila. Sheila has been working for the last four and a half years after leaving university at the age of twelve. Only a few years ago, before decimalisation, she was approaching 32 and starting to feel the pull of the biological clock. Now she has her whole life ahead of her. She feels young and full of energy thanks to the long, four day weekends that he usually spends with friends trawling around shops and trying on clothes that she will never buy. She meets with friends in the park and listens to S Club 7, her favourite band. She talks about boys or bitches about her boyfriend Dave who spends most of his time watching sports with his mates or glued to computer games.
Dave used to invest his spare cash or go to nice restaurants but now he has more important priorities, clothes, computer games and of course OXY 10. One day - once the spots have gone - he hopes to get a girlfriend but for now he’s saddled with a wife.
So to summarise, the decimal week will not only cut down on road accidents but also create a sense of chill for the whole nation, create lots of extra leisure time and even make us live longer – how could you refuse?
If you would like to support the idea of a decimalised week please contact your doctor. If he or she does not certify you then drop me a line on [email protected].
As a total aside I was in fact born in 1972, the year of UK decimalisation and sure enough I have the tell tale ten fingers and ten toes. Of course, I've never had to deal with money pre-decimalisation so some might say I can't make a comparison, I do however still have to deal with pounds and ounces. To my simple mind this is very confusing. Maybe it’s a failing of the education system but I never did quite get to grips with pounds, ounces and of course stones. Is it sixteen pounds in a stone or fourteen? Sixteen ounces in a pound, I know that much. This does not follow any logical pattern. Grams and kilogram’s anyone?? I have to say it makes more sense to me.
Anyway, I stray from the point so lets get back to it. The proposed decimal week consists of ten days. Now before you jump up and down and get all excited hear me out. Of course a decimal week would have to consist of ten days. This is the deal, we work for six days and have a healthy four day weekend. Now I hear some of you coming round to my way of thinking all of a sudden.
A two day weekend is just not practical. The first day you spend getting over the week and catching up with chores, washing and the like and the second you spend dreading Monday. Not healthy.
With the decimal week you get a whopping four day weekend. Imagine the possibilities, the chores done you have three whole days to get on with the things you don't have time to do at the moment. Writing that novel at last or maybe a spot of decorating. This would also make a weekend away worthwhile and the knock on effect on the travel industry would surely stimulate the economy.
OK, it's not all good news. Hanging on for ten weeks before you get paid again is going to be hard work. Especially with those long weekends to spend in but that's a penalty I'm prepared to deal with. The other major problem, and this is a biggy, is the availability of light. Now Mother Nature doesn't follow the decimal rule and there's a reason for that. The earth spins around one full circuit in 24 hours – that gives a fairly steady and reliable portion of night and day. A decimal day would have to consist of either ten or 100 hours. Now 100 hours in a day would quite frankly be just too much so ten hours it is. Of course each of the ten decimal hours will have 100 minutes and each minute 100 seconds, which means there is 1 old minute and 40 old seconds to every new minute. You follow? This means a total for the day of 27 old hours and 46 old minutes, an excess of 3 old hours and 36 old minutes leisure time.
So the problem is if the earth spins round once in 24 hours after four days we would be approximately 12 (old) hours ahead of ourselves. In other words you would be having lunch in the dark. The answer - simply shorten the second, this also has several unexpected advantages. A shorter second means that the world record for the 100m (9.79 old seconds) is now around 16.3 decimal seconds, now even I could beat that.
The extra three old hours and 46 old minutes per day will along with the new decimal hours will have a major impact on life. Drivers will no longer speed along at 50 mph (30mph non decimal) in residential areas they will be forced down to 30 decimal miles per hour (18 old miles per hour). This will dramatically reduce accidents and with a whole 3 hrs and 46 old minutes extra per day people will be much more relaxed and so will naturally fit in to the new speed limits. Best of all if we keep pub closing time at 11pm we can drink all day, as late as we like!
Of course clocks will have to be redesigned and this may be cause some confusion but with our new ages (I will be only 15 years old as opposed to 30) we will have practically grown up with the new system and at the very least be young enough to cope with the change.
Now here we highlight another slight problem, at 15 I will not be old enough to drink. Clearly this age needs to be changed. By my estimation 18 old years equals nine new years and 36 decimal months. Now as we all know nine year olds are much more sensible than 18 year olds and more likely to moderate their drinking, putting an end to drunken gangs of teenagers on the streets. So nine years and 36 months it is.
Let us imagine the scene once the decimalised week is in place. We look at a typical teenager, sixteen year old Sheila. Sheila has been working for the last four and a half years after leaving university at the age of twelve. Only a few years ago, before decimalisation, she was approaching 32 and starting to feel the pull of the biological clock. Now she has her whole life ahead of her. She feels young and full of energy thanks to the long, four day weekends that he usually spends with friends trawling around shops and trying on clothes that she will never buy. She meets with friends in the park and listens to S Club 7, her favourite band. She talks about boys or bitches about her boyfriend Dave who spends most of his time watching sports with his mates or glued to computer games.
Dave used to invest his spare cash or go to nice restaurants but now he has more important priorities, clothes, computer games and of course OXY 10. One day - once the spots have gone - he hopes to get a girlfriend but for now he’s saddled with a wife.
So to summarise, the decimal week will not only cut down on road accidents but also create a sense of chill for the whole nation, create lots of extra leisure time and even make us live longer – how could you refuse?
If you would like to support the idea of a decimalised week please contact your doctor. If he or she does not certify you then drop me a line on [email protected].
