Like many of you, I venture out on Saturday mornings to get groceries and gas. Until my college years, I never thought much about whether or not I paid the right amount at the pump, if the supermarket scale was correct, or if packaged foods actually contained the amount of product stated on the box. It was not until I took a position with the Maryland Weights and Measures program, first as a field inspector and then as a metrologist, that I learned about how the U.S. weights and measures system lays the foundation for fair commerce.

Now, as a physical scientist with the NIST Office of Weights and Measures, I have the opportunity to look at weights and measures from a national perspective. This has given me an even greater appreciation for the contributions of the U.S. weights and measures system to the U.S. economy.  National Weights and Measures Week is celebrated March 1–7, and I want to reflect on how the U.S. weights and measures system is necessary for fair trade between buyer and seller in two commercial areas: at the gas pump and in the supermarket.

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