I want to be as generous as possible here. One could easily get cynical about a place where they use washing machines as a measure of volume.
A sinkhole roughly the size of six to seven washing machines has closed the northbound lanes of State Line Road near 100th Street in Kansas City, Missouri
In fairness, it would be worth mentioning that if you want people to be able to relate to the news in the 15 seconds you give them on television, a familiar way of describing makes good sense. We shouldn't blame 41 Action News - it isn’t their job to educate. Their only job is to get the viewer's attention long enough so you will still be watching as they cut to a commercial break and pay the bills.
Being me, I cannot help but think that if they used square metres or even square yards, it might stimulate some younger viewers to care what that meant. It might give them some knowledge of the way things work. Heaven forbid, it might make them want to know more about how to measure things.
Sinkholes happen everywhere in the world - being proud that you hate science and mathematics is not a universal characteristic ... yet. Happily.
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For your enjoyment ... somewhat related, but not closely ...
What a strange way to measure a sinkhole! Now I'm trying to imagine how big a hole six to seven washing machines would make. About the same size as six to seven tumble dryers I would think.
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