Daylight Savings Time: Are We Still Doing This Every Year?
For those of you NOT in the know, Daylight Savings Time makes its annual return this coming week. Technically, it occurs on Sunday morning, March 8th at 2:00 AM, which suddenly becomes 3:00 AM. Why? Because we decided it would. For most of us, we’ll move our clocks up the night before (remember, its “spring forward – fall back”). If you forget, you’ll most likely show up at church or work an hour late on Sunday morning. Plus, you’re rewarded with one hour less of sleep the night before (like any of us need that). Don’t worry, you’ll get an extra hour to snooze on November 1st, 2020, when we switch back from “Daylight Savings” to “Standard” time.
So, why are we still doing this every year?
The retail world, sports industry, and tourism officials love Daylight Savings Time (or DST – for short), as it provides an “extra” hour of daylight to pursue those types of activities. They also argue that it saves energy and reduces traffic accidents and crime.
Conversely, businesses and interests related to “nighttime” activities oppose it (for the opposite reason). Farmers tend to hate it (does a cow really know or care what time it is?), and studies have shown that is stressful and tends to lead to more heart attacks.[1] Maybe it helped kill all the drive-in movie theaters (I’m just speculating on this one, but I sure do miss the experience of going to the drive-in).
Can’t we settle on a timeframe and just stick with it? We have in the past. In 1974, Daylight Savings time was observed year-round, but that led to complaints that school children were going to school in the dark (during the winter months). Commuters also complained about going to work sans daylight during the short days of winter, so it was repealed the following year. We’ve also extended the period of Daylight Savings time over the years by Federal mandate, adding about six weeks to the annual DST timeframe (since its initial inception in 1966). Since 2015, there have also been multiple attempts at legislation to “permanently” stay on DST, but none have passed at the Federal level.[2]
There are pockets of geography that do not observe DST (Arizona and Hawaii, for example). Also, the further “south” one lives in the US, the less “benefit” one sees from the time change (as the latitude difference in the north causes the length of time between day and night to be longer in the summer months).
Honestly, I’m all for one time frame and just sticking with it. I doubt that local farmers really adjust their schedules all that much, as they’ll generally work from sunrise to sunset no matter what time of year it is – and if I really need more daylight to complete a chore around the house, well guess what? I’ll just get up earlier. About the only benefit I personally gain out of it all is that it’s an annual reminder for me to change the batteries in my smoke detectors (so I don’t get that annoying “chirp” at o-dark-thirty some random weekend morning).
There’s a famous saying that states an old Indian chief was told about the proposed Daylight Savings Time change and he said “only the government would believe that you could cut a foot off the top of a blanket, sew it to the bottom, and get a longer blanket.” Wise words.
So what’s your stance on Daylight Savings Time? Drop me a comment below and share your
thoughts!
[1] Wikipedia contributors, “Daylight saving time,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Daylight_saving_time&oldid=942789605 (accessed February 27, 2020).
[2] Wikipedia contributors, “Daylight saving time in the United States,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Daylight_saving_time_in_the_United_States&oldid=942410955 (accessed February 27, 2020).