Sprung Forward

 

Changing the time at Stonehenge

At 2 am this morning, it became 3 am.

It was the annual spring ritual to move to daylight savings time to give us more daylight into later into the evening.  We will return to standard time in the fall.

Ever since November 18, 1883, when the US and Canadian railroads created time zones and standardized time within the zones, there has been controversy.  In 1908, the Canadians in Thunder Bay, Ontario implemented the bright idea of daylight savings time (DST) to the longer daylight hours of the summer to the evening hours.  In 1966, Congress passed the Uniform Time Act which allowed the states to decide if they wanted to adopt daylight savings time or not.  The only proviso was the decision had to be applied statewide and the annual spring-ahead and fall-back dates were standardized across the country. 

From the first ‘standardization’ of time and the first notions of shifting to and from DST, people have had issues with it.  People on the edges of the time zones are more vocal about the standardization.  The number of those disgruntled with DST ebbs and flows.  It seems to have flared up in the US as we seem to look for more things to be upset and polarized about.

Me?  I am OK with it and the few days it takes to adapt to it.  Mostly, I like it because I can post the same cartoons and memes twice a year as I have here. 

It is just 9 am here in Chicagoland.  But for the ‘Spring forward’ it would be 8 am.  Honestly, I can only tell the difference at the beginnings and ends of the days when it is either lighter in the morning and darker earlier in the evening or vice-versa.  The main reasons people complain are:

For 74% of respondents, the solution seems clear: they support the idea of ending DST entirely. They believe it to be a waste of time and money, with minimal energy savings and inconsistent sunrise times. Alarmingly, some argue that it may even contribute to an increase in traffic incidents. ~ northjersey.com

 

Health. Experts in circadian rhythms and sleep have warned about the negative health implications of DST. DST reduces sleep time and causes an increased mismatch between the body clock and local time, a condition called social jetlag. ~ wikipedia

 

In addition to sleep loss, people are at greater risk of mood disturbance, suicide, and being involved in traffic accidents during both bi-annual transition periods. However, experts suggest that long term, there is a reduction of accidents as more people drive home from work in daylight. ~ sleepfoundation.org

Honestly, I am OK with daylight savings time.  Really, an hour change in the spring and again in the fall is not hard to adjust to.  I am a bit, only a bit mind you, amazed and mystified about when others complain about it. 

Should we abolish daylight saving time?  Modify it?  I have a few ideas.

First, maybe the world adapts a global time zone.  Let’s all, the whole world, move to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).  It is historical.  It is British and hearkens back to the days of the British Empire (and I am not really an anglophile).  Per the GMT website:

Greenwich Mean Time or GMT is the mean (average) solar time at the Greenwich Meridian or Prime Meridian, 0 degrees longitude.

The time displayed by the Shepherd Gate Clock at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, is always GMT. When the sun is at its highest point exactly above the Prime Meridian at the Royal Observatory, it is 12:00 noon at Greenwich.

I live in Chicago.  I get up at 5 am which would 1000.  I start class at 8 which would be 1300.  If lunch was normally at noon… I would be having lunch at high 1800.  If someone in Bishkek said he would call me at 1930, there would be no question as when that might be.  I would clarify if it was Bishkek time or Chicago time, I wouldn’t have to add or subtract hours.  Time miscalculations would not be the cause of missing the call.  Time is relative anyway.  We would get used to it after a decade or two.  If the world were to move to such a universal time, the US would probably not join in.  After all, the whole world moved to the metric system, and we still haven’t.

The other idea is we can all have our own personal time.  This might appeal to our uniquely American obsession with individualism.  We are after all, each and every one of us, unique valued and special snowflakes.  So, here is the idea.  Since almost every clock or watch that matters internet capable, everyone can set their own time standard.  Me?  I want dawn to 6 am wherever I am… because… well, there is a very small vestige of a farming heritage in my psyche.  My time management app would simply adjust all my clocks (phone, watch, laptops, car, etc) to that dawn is 6 am standard based on longitude and latitude.  Every day 6 am would vary by a few seconds as days get longer or shorter.  Like the speedometer in my car that displays mph and kmph, every watch would display my personal time whatever the local time is.  This would certainly be ridiculously confusing.  If I wake up at 5 am on school days and sunrise was at 7:12 (which would be the new 6 am on that day), my alarm clock would wake me at 3:48 am.  See?  It is pretty simple.  Well actually not.  I am sure I would be early or late or just plain miss altogether classes and other appointments.  It is a small price to pay for GMT to mean Gavoor Mean Time for me.

Or… we could just leave things alone and either complain about it or have a little fun with it twice a year.