Did You Fall Back? Actually, You Had No Choice
This is a public service announcement to “fall back’’ tonight and change your clocks, because starting at 2 a.m. on November 2nd daylight saving ends and standard time begins.
Like many of our cherished American traditions, daylight saving exists because of Benjamin Franklin. According to National Geographic:
“While serving as U.S. ambassador to France in Paris, Franklin wrote of being awakened at 6 a.m. and realizing, to his surprise, that the sun rose far earlier than he usually did. ‘Imagine the resources that might be saved if he and others rose before noon and burned less midnight oil, Franklin, tongue half in cheek, wrote to a newspaper.’’
By World War I, there was a federal law stating what day it would start for those states that chose to observe it.
But, not everyone was (or is) as keen on this change as Franklin was.
In a 1958 letter to the editor of The Boston Globe, George Saver of Cambridge wrote a scathing attack:
“It is a devious and deceptive practice played upon the public by certain fanatic elements who delight in making people follow conformity.’’
Ok, so daylight saving is conformist? He continued:
“This country did not have Daylight Saving Time prior to 1917, when it was introduced as an emergency wartime measure. (Like death and taxes, it has more or less grimly hung on.)
Woah.
So why do people hate it so much?
Well, the “I HATE DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME’’ Facebook group says: “I think the whole point of it is to confuse us!’’
Let’s just ignore that fact that most cell phones now change the time for you. Are there other reasons?
The End Daylight Saving Time website (standardtime.com) has a petition you can sign to end the inconvenience and create merely two U.S. time zones instead of four:
“This proposal will simplify scheduling, travel, and commerce. And by ending semi-annual clock tampering, it will also allow people to get more sleep, be better adjusted to their daily routine, avoid missed appointments resulting from failure to reset clocks, and, most importantly, save lives.’’
The site’s supporters say that their proposal is “modest’’ and it will release “us from the burden of having to set our clocks every few months.’’
Though there are some daylight saving time haters who have some potentially more compelling (and scientific) reasons:
– Daylight saving time proponents say that springing the clocks forward saves energy, but recent studies say that it might have little to no actual affect.
– It negatively affects TV ratings.
– Those who like daylight saving time also say that it cuts traffic accidents. Gizmodo said that this argument also may have no real data backing it.
– It may actually be bad for your health. A 2012 study found that heart attack risk is increased on the Monday and Tuesday after moving clocks ahead, according to National Geographic.
So, no excuses for being late to work on Monday morning since you get an extra hour of sleep. Enjoy your standard time starting tomorrow. Homer Simpson sure does:
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