Heart and Mind

Saving Daylight Savings Time

I had been chatting with Paul at Encyclopedia Giachettica and, with the recent turning back of the clocks, he told me he half-expected to see a "Daylight Savings" blog entry. I told him I didn't have much to say on the subject and offered what I did. His response was, "It sounds like a blog entry to me!" So...with dedication to him, here we go.

Daylight Savings Time. Or the end there of, as it is, right? We're actually entering daylight-depletion time, no?

I think most people who muse on this late October tradition would probably make trite remarks about how miserable it is to get out of work when it's pitch black already, or about how it sucks to have the precious sun taking leave so early in the day. Or, perhaps they lament that they have these autumnal feelings because it's become very clear that summer is over.

Not me. I don't care much about any of that crap. I like the changes in season. Except for the fact that it prevents me from getting in some yard work during the weekday evenings, I like that it gets dark earlier. I will like it when it stays light later into the evening, too, when that season comes back around. So, none of that stuff matters to me.

The only thing I can really say about turning back the clocks is that I don't participate in the ritual and I don't recognize the event at all...

...until Monday morning, that is.

As you likely know, you're supposed to change your clocks before bed on Saturday. Then, somewhere around 2 AM Sunday morning, the switch becomes official and you enjoy all day Sunday in the new timeframe.

That's no good. It should be changed Sunday night going into Monday. Why?

It's obvious, isn't it? What is the huge benefit—the only benefit—to all of this? What is worthwhile about this October clock switch?

No surprise here: you get an extra hour of sleep! Right? Everyone knows that.

So, why would I want to waste that extra hour on Sunday when I don't have to get up and go to work? So I don't. I just live Sunday an hour behind everyone, go to bed at my normal time, and enjoy the hour come Monday morning.

And, of course, I hope that I don't have any appointments on Sunday. (If I do—or if I want to watch something on TV—I grudgingly do the math on a need-to-know-the-real-time basis.) If my wife changes some of the clocks, I just don't look at those clocks. It takes us a couple days to just get around to switching all the clocks, so there is always a few for me to glance at.

Sunday? Bad time to switch 'em up. Whoever invented this tradition must have been a paper boy.

Funny, though, because the Sunday morning thing works just fine when we "spring ahead" in the...um....spring. It gives you a day to get used to the payback for the hour you bought on credit back in October.

posted by Steve @ 1:48 PM