Saving Daylight
Twice a
year, every year there is a battle about changing the clocks. Why do we spring forward and fall back?
I have heard
it has to do with children not going to school in the dark…of course I remember
coming home from school in the dark due to after school activities. Seems like 6 of one a
half dozen of the other to me.
I have also
heard it has something with saving fuel or electricity or something…that never made
any sense to me. Of course, there are
many things that make no sense to me.
Anyway, in
the last few years I have heard nothing except complaints that the clock
changing thing was ridiculous and should be stopped. I have not heard a single objection to
this. It seemed almost unanimous that we
should stop the springing and falling every year.
Recently
congress passed a law eliminating Day Light Savings time starting in 2023. Might be the only thing Congress will agree
on this year.
Immediately
after Congress passed the law, I began seeing news articles that this would be
a catastrophe.
Where have
all these catastrophe predicting people been.
Why do I now hear their arguments?
Somehow, I now hear that without adjusting the clocks children will be
killed, crops will be left un-harvested, energy will be wasted and Republicans
elected.
Oh, the
humanity!
Personally,
I liked the practice of changing the clocks.
It is a ritual for Mrs. C and I to toast the changing of the
clocks. At 2 am on clock changing days
we watch the TV clock suddenly jump from 1:59 to 3:00 or 1:59 to 1:00. With a glass of champagne we shout “Happy
Clock Change”, share a clock change kiss and turn in for the night.
Another
tradition kicked to the curb.
Still, I
have a problem with any objections to the clock changing. If it so dang important that you start the
day in day light, change your hours, not the clock.
“Starting
this Monday March 14, school will open at 8:30, not 7:30.”
Is that so
friggin difficult?
Mrs. C has a
solution. Just one time this fall move all clocks back one-half hour, and never change them again. Compromise; it is the Democratic thing to do.
Simple.
Why is everything so dang difficult and controversial? How are we supposed to figure out personal
pronouns, resolve racial issues, end inflation, or stop a pandemic, when we can’t
even make a simple decision about telling time?
If I were
King, I would go with the Mrs. C suggestion.
As a matter
of fact, while I’m at it, I will lengthen every minute by one sixteenth of a second, and
eliminate that stupid leap year thing.*
End of
another problem.
*whatever it takes to eliminate one day every four years...I'd hire a math wiz to figure it out.
Funny, i've been saying the same thing for years. Change it by a half hour the next time it comes around and leave it there, splitting the difference. Your Ms. C is a smart cookie.
ReplyDeleteI think of it in terms of the postal workers not having to wear headlamps and deliver after dark. Except during the holiday season, when they start packages at 6:00 a.m., and will have to wear headlamps to deliver before daylight.
ReplyDeleteI do like Mrs C's compromise. She needs to run for office.
ReplyDeleteI like Mrs C's solution too.
ReplyDeleteThe "kids going to school in the dark" makes no sense here in Australia where the sun is up way too early in summer and even in winter it is daylight by the time kids head to school.
I thought the original purpose was so businesses in separate countries could communicate during office hours, but with computers many businesses are available 24 hours now, so the clock changing thing is useless.
And another thing ... why do they always change the clocks at 2:00 in the morning? I am fed up having to stay awake all night and then change the clocks at 2:00 am. Why not change them at noon? Or make it more interesting, change the clocks at 7:36pm and 20 seconds? That way everyone will take notice and have to be punctual to change their clocks at the precise time.
ReplyDeleteI wrote to the authorities about it and they ignored me. I am not appreciated in my own time, (9:16:54am), or at any time for that matter.
God bless.
Time is just time - it will always affect different people in different ways. Man established time and we continue to allow it to determine where we are at any given moment. I love Mrs C's suggestion. I am a strong advocate for compromise and this seems to be a perfect solution. I thought the original purpose was for farmers to have more daylight but it seems a moot point since much of the farm equipment has so many lights, it looks like daylight. Most farms are huge conglomerates anymore and it's (sadly) not the small farmer tilling and planting the fields. As I get older, the time change throws me off for at least a couple of weeks before I get adjusted. We got married on Halloween when the time change had been that week, in a park, in the dark. (forgot about the time change) It was just witnesses, us and the judge but he said we made it into the book he was going to write. One of the witnesses got caught in traffic - so I had to go door to door to find someone to be our other witness, but that's a story for another time. Split the difference people - we all win. Ranee (MN)
ReplyDeleteLengthening every minute by one sixteenth of a second will eliminate the leap year? I will have to figure it out (was very weak in maths)
ReplyDeleteto be honest we humans fool ourselves by sticking with such time changes .may be we know that time is something we can't control nor manage just adjust ourselves according to it's pace and enjoying this time pass hobby that makes us feel smart .
ReplyDeleteit is kind of shocking to learn that from 2023 America will stop changing clock to save daylight ,to me it does not matter but for those who need some new topic to shout over it's hot indeed :)