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I don't mean anything by it when I suggest that we are significantly different from the Americans, and you can take it from me that they definitely outperform us in a some respects. You don't even need a sample survey to prove it - just take the smallest number, i.e. 1, and there you go. In our neck of the woods this ultimate symbol of digital supremacy - after all, one is infinitely greater than nil - is written as a vertical line with a sloping dash at the top that points to the left. However, in a striking display of efficiency the Americans do without the dash, which makes their "one" as straightforward as the number it represents: a no-nonsense vertical stick. Just think about the continental difference this makes in terms of effort and ink and my only conclusion is, one up for the Americans. Let's move on to the seven. This also has a dash to the left, albeit a horizontal one. So far, we agree with the Americans. And yet the number seven constitutes a considerable source of confusion: where the American version through its dash to the left is deemed sufficiently to set itself apart from their straightforward "one", our eyes tend to mistake an American-style seven for our version of a one, and so we have cleverly added an additional dash at waist level. However, this once more implies greater effort and more ink, which is another point for the Americans. But there's more to come. Please join me in the elevator if you will. Since my trip to America I find myself wondering whenever I am in a descending elevator whether the "zero" button refers to something below my level of choice or to the ground floor, as the Americans would have it. The winner? The Americans, of course, as they reach their destination sooner. Which makes them go a whopping three up on the home team. The moral of this story? If you are trying to get someone to listen to you who considers him or herself to be your superior, always give them a head start first - and if they really turn out to be ahead of you, at least you'll know where you are, which in itself can be most useful. |