Unit scale

Decades ago I was still fresh in export business at Headquarters in Tokyo. One day I received an inquiry from our subsidiary in Singapore with a target price shown in “$”. The price was a way higher than those in market then, so I immediately sent response that it is acceptable. But it took only a second to get totally stunned when I received back the message from Singapore: “Thanks. Received firm order at SG$...”. The unit was SG$, not US$, around 30% higher in value! Since this unforgettable incident I have developed habit to write “US$” or “USD” even when it is undoubtedly clear that price is in US dollar.

Same misunderstanding may happen in a way of describing a date. In USA it is normally mm/dd/yyyy, while that in the of the world(almost) is dd/mm/yyyy. So 11/10/2025 can be 10th November for Americans, not 11th of October. To avoid making trouble which can be quite serious, I have got used to write down “10-Nov 2025”.

My office when stationed in Belgium. 80㎡wide, equipped with coffee vending machine.