At work today, one of my coworkers, Michael, was describing a banner he was planning to order for an upcoming trade show to our boss, Magda. When asked how big it would be, Michael gave the dimensions he had chosen: four feet by six feet. Unfortunately, Magda is unfamiliar with US standard measurements since she's from from Europe, so she needed further clarification. Before anyone else could respond, Micheal said "It's as long as Jordan is tall." Magda asked me to stand up to help her better imagine the banner. And it worked. She nodded her head and approved the banner's size.
This experience reminds me of a prank I heard about that happened at Harvard back in the late fifties. A fraternity used one of its member named Oliver Smoot to measure a bridge, repeatedly picking and moving Smoot over and over again until they had crossed the length of the bridge. One Smoot equals five feet seven inches and the bridge totaled 364.4 Smoots (plus or minus one ear). To this day, Smoots are occasionally used as a humorous length, as someone might also use archaic measurements, like cubits or rods, for fun.
While one Jordan really equals six feet one inch, it was close enough for today's purposes and got a chuckle out of those in the room (including me!).
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