Fractionally More Stupid, Part 3

Caller: “I am looking at [Part Number]. How long is that?”

Me: “I’m showing that it’s 0.525 inches long.”

Caller: “And what’s that in regular inches?”

Me: “I’m sorry, what do you mean? That was in inches.”

Caller: “Yeah, but what’s that in regular inches? Like, half? Three-quarters?”

Me: “Oh, well, it’s just over half.”

Caller: “Why don’t it just say that? I’m looking at these parts on your website, and none of these numbers makes sense.”

Me: “What length do you need? Maybe I can find it for you.”

Caller: *Ignoring me* “This one here says 0.375. That’s three-quarters, right?

Me: “No, that’s three-eighths. Three quarters is 0.75.”

Caller: “Well, why can’t they just say three-eighths?”

Me: *Finally clicks* “They wrote it as a decimal; 0.375 is the same as three-eighths. All the lengths in this product category are written as decimals rather than fractions.”

Caller: “And what about this one that says 0.2? That’s half, right?”

Me: “No, half is 0.5… How about you just let me know the length you need so I can track it down?”

I did eventually find what he needed, but I was absolutely dumbfounded.

I acknowledge that I probably have more decimal equivalents of fractions memorized than the average person because I work with these products all day, but frankly, I would expect a fully-grown adult to know that 0.5 and a half are the same thing, especially since this caller worked for an industrial contractor — the kind of person who also works with industrial products all day.

Related:
Fractionally More Stupid, Part 2
Fractionally More Stupid