Flagstone: About Four Tons

The flunky at the flagstone place today was clearly not too pleased that he had to walk out into the yard and assist me in selecting some stone. I am indecisive by nature, and cautiously so when it comes to parting with money. I need some time to shop and to fret over my decisions. He was not in the mood to wait.

Now that the pergola is pretty much finished, it's time to lay its stone floor and some pathways. And then it will be time for some plants, except that the clock is ticking towards summer, so I need to be pretty quick.


I'd done my homework. I knew that I will need about four tons of the stone to cover the area. But at the store today there were rows and rows and piles and piles of stones. Who knows how much is four tons? Not me.


"How much is four tons?" I asked the guy as I gestured in a most general way and so that he would understand my intent. In other words, how much of this stuff do I need?

"Eight thousand pounds," he answered.

Then I realized that the weight of each pile was clearly printed on a tag.

He took my hesitation as a sign of confusion. "You see," he said slowly, "one ton equals two thousand pounds, so if you multiply..."