Quantity

When buying beef or other meat,
if you ask for so many kun
a rough guess is good enough,
but if you ask for so many grams
then guesswork is not acceptable.

If you hear of so many degrees
above or below zero,
you can estimate if the weather is hot or cold,
but if you hear of so many millibars of pressure,
you can't estimate the power of the wind you will have,
and if they can tell you the 'discomfort-index'
why the devil can't they calculate a 'comfort-index'?

Then as soon as they go on to talk about
velocity per second and the speed of light
your head begins to ache,
while if someone ever mentions calory-contents
you lose your appetite for that meal.

Worse still, when they talk of
'improving your sexual levels'
as they often do in the papers
in advertisements for magazines,
do they mean that the sweetness and joy
of a kiss can be measured chastely?

Since today we are all living
in a world of measureable quantities,
I am an old man quite out of step with the times.
But I have one question.
As the world goes running after quantity like this,
why is the world of quality reduced to such poverty?

And if they calculate values as they do,
why is it that the theft of a few thousands
and the embezzlement of a few billions
are not punished proportionately?