I hate two weekends a year. Yesterday was one of them. Thanks
to Daylight Savings Time, we lost an hour when we turned the clocks ahead. You
know the way to remember, right? Spring ahead; Fall back. It doesn’t matter to me whether we lose or gain an hour. It’s a
pain in the rear.
Anyone who watched National
Treasure knows that Benjamin Franklin came up with the idea of DST. While
that fit the movie, that’s not exactly true. In a newspaper article, Old Ben
(when he was envoy to France) suggested it to Parisians as a way to economize
on candles. Of course, he also suggested a tax on shutters, rationing candles,
and waking the public at sunrise by ringing church bells and firing cannons. And
I thought losing an hour of sleep was a pain. Thanks, Ben.
So if it wasn’t Ben whose fault is it? A New Zealand
entomologist named George Hudson in 1895 wanted more time in the evening for
hobby of collecting insects. Insects? Really? As with many concepts, another
man claimed credit. William Willett, an avid outdoorsman, disliked ending a
round of golf because of dusk. C’mon, guys. Golfing? Why didn’t he just start
earlier?
It doesn’t matter who came up with the concept of changing the
clocks, or why, we’re stuck with it. I always thought it was to give farmers an
extra hour in the evening to work the fields. Since we’re not an agrarian
society anymore, what good is it? Supposedly, it’s to cut down on energy
consumption. Since it’s light longer, we save on electricity. Okay, I’ll buy
that.
It’s still a pain. Until 2006, my sister in Indianapolis was
always an hour behind us in the summer. Good thing she doesn’t live in the
northwest corner of Indiana. They changed to Central Time. She didn’t like the
governor at the time but conceded that at least he gave them Daylight Savings
Time.
With the exception of Hawaii and Arizona, all of the United
States goes on DST. I can understand Hawaii. They’re in the middle of nowhere
(actually the Pacific). But Arizona? It was bad enough that Hubs and I were two
hours later than Son & Family. Now, it’s three hours. Figuring out phone
calls and Facetime with Baby Girl is harder now. If it’s nine o’clock here,
what time is it there? Would they be in the middle of dinner? Or if they called
us at eight, would we be awake? When we drove to Arizona, we wouldn’t change
our clocks until morning each day. That made it easier for our bodies to
adjust. However, when we fly, it seems to take me days to readjust—especially on
the return flight. Three hours is a big change.
Unfortunately, it makes sense why Arizona doesn’t go on DST.
With the extra hour of sunlight, people used their air conditioners more
resulting in more energy consumption. Interesting note: the Navaho Indian
Reservation, which extends from Arizona into Utah and New Mexico, does observe
DST.
I suppose that since I’m “retired” (from my job in the work
force—writers never retire) DST shouldn’t bother me. I can go to bed when I
want and sleep as long as I want. But it does throw my schedule off. Change is
hard. Harder yet in November when we change back.
I’m also blaming DST for this post being late. Well, I was
musing this morning. Does that count?
Don’t forget to change the batteries in your smoke
detectors.
I was so glad I didn't have to work Sunday and didn't have to worry about DTS messing up when I woke or being an hour late because I forgot. Which I did, but it just resulted in me staying in bed until noon.
ReplyDeleteLOL, Patricia. I know what you mean.
DeleteI forgot about the time change and just "happened" to wake up early on Sunday so I made it to church on time. And yes, it is a pain in many ways. But in the summertime it's awesome to go outside at 8:30 or 9 at night and still have daylight!
ReplyDeleteTrue about daylight so late at night. It just takes me longer these days to adjust. :)
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