Measuring up in Panama

To measure is to know, as the Dutch saying goes, but what do you know when more than one measure is being used? Well, we advise you to pay close attention. Apparently, the Panamanian government has never decided which set of measures they prefer or which should be legally displayed prominently in order to protect the customer, so you have to be careful when you shop around.

Distances are measured in meters and surfaces in hectares. Unless you talk to a building contractor, who will give you a cost estimate on the basis of the building area in square feet. However, should you decide to tile the place yourself, you will discover that tiles are sold per squere meter. You probably know that Americans use ‘letter size’ rather than A4, because of that option in a well known text editor. But did you also know that, in order to file that paper in ‘letter size’ files, the holes you perforate in the paper need to be a little bit closer to each other than for filing in A4 files?

By the way, speedometers indicate speed in miles per hour and in kilometers per hour, the first in large numbers than the second. However, the total milage the car has run is given in kilometers. Fuel is sold in (US) gallons, as is milk and paint. Wine however, comes in 0.7 l bottles, soda in 1 and 2.5 l bottles, but also in cans of 12 fluid ounces.

Fresh food, such as fish, meat, vegetables and fruit is sold per pound, but butter and margarine are measured in grams. Prepacked food comes in just about every imaginable size and unit. Size and unit usually depend on the country of origin. So balsamic vinegar is sold in a bottle of 250 ml ℮, locally bottled olive oil in a bottle of 8 oz and peanut butter (from the US, where else?) comes in a 12 oz jar. Panamanian coffee is sold in packets of almost 1 pound (212 g. = 7.5 oz). Note that packaged food from the US and Panama does not use the ‘℮’, which means that the weight stated should be the minimum weight, rather than the average weight.

You can buy Panamanian rum in bottles ranging in size from 175 ml to 1 gallon. However, be very, very careful. Next to the bottle of 1750 ml, a large sign from the supermarket claims that this bottle contains half a gallon, which is incorrect. After all, half a gallon is 1892.5 ml. Perhaps they think that peolpe who drink such quantities of rum are unable to calculate anyway?