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The nice thing about a foot is that it divides into 12 inches, which gives you many options for measuring portions of a foot compared to metric units. But the problem is not with the metric system. It is with our base 10 numerals.
It's actually not that hard to count to 12 on your fingers. You can even do it on one hand by pointing your thumb at the sections (phalanges) of your fingers. If you bring your other hand into it, you can even reach 144!
Regarding the τ = 2π thing, I brought this up with my mathematician/classical Greek enthusiast brother. He said "Tau? Why tau? I would've gone with Ϡ (sampi). It's not used for much anymore. Would be great to bring it back…"