Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Common Sense (Well, at least it made sense at midnight)

As Thomas Paine said, "Society in every state is a blessing, but Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one: for when we suffer, or are exposed to the same miseries BY A GOVERNMENT, which we might expect in a country WITHOUT GOVERNMENT, our calamity is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer."

He was clairvoyant. He was writing about the future Daylight Savings Time. Why do we put up with this crap anyways? This is the U.S. of A. for Pete's Sake. Why don't we just vote this silly clock changing nonsense into history???? I figure that the time change has us in such a stupor that we can't think straight until the next fall and then we are just so glad to get an extra hour of sleep that we shut up and put up with it. Well, wake up all you groggy people and write your congressman.

I have been a mess ever since the time change and it is worse because they keep springing it on us earlier than ever. Eventually, it will totally meet up in January where we will go forward one Sunday and fall back the very next and we'll have to call it darkness savings time if this keeps up. My kids are a mess. too. Behavior is in the toilet and everyone is stressed out. No one is keeping up with chores and homework as well and sleep schedules are a wreck. I drag around all day and then wake up when it's time to go to bed. All this for an extra hour of daylight in the evening? If you want more sun, get up earlier. (Or sleep outside and sleep in, getting the best of both worlds.) But it gets worse. Criminals are having a hard time adjusting too. Since the time change, bail hearings have been taking three times as long as usual because we have so many more people to process. And they are doing more rash things than normal. People who are barely keeping it together or are already over the edge do not need a push further down the cliff. Think about this, DST abolition is a public safety issue. It's a health issue too. Apparently, heart attacks rise in the days following the switch as well. And productivity drops significantly too. I ask you, does our economy need this?

What is so great about having light at night, anyways? Did you ever meet a child that believes it's bedtime before dark? Did you realize we could start the fireworks earlier on the Fourth of July if we left things well enough alone? But my best argument is this: Arizona and Hawaii are doing JUST FINE without it! Do you see anyone complaining and asking for it there? No, they are complaining about the other 48 stupid states that are not in sync with them. Oh, I just can't resist digressing here to say that once this poor Russian interpreter from Arizona I met at an over the phone interpreting conference told how the first time everyone else switched times, she didn't know and so was not there for the first hour of her shift that was sent to her from an out of state agency. Her supervisor said she should have been aware of it and known to switch. this just makes me roll my eyes because who in their right mind thinks, "Gee, what if all of the sudden, everyone but Arizona changed their clocks and I didn't know about it. I better find out if that ever happens. "? (Sorry, that's been bugging me for YEARS. Sometimes it's just better to get things off your chest right away, I guess.)

Lastly, you might want to know that if we don't reform, this kind modus operandi can get way out of hand. I heard on the radio that some people think we all ought to have the same time all over the world. Like, if we decide Tokyo is the right time, we all set our clocks to it, and us people on the other side of the world will just have to have our days at night, because, then American business men who have lots of business with Tokyo can be in sync with them. Don't even go there, I know you are thinking that the true time is Chicago time, but we don't need to do anything else to upset the rest of the world right now either. It's all ridiculous because EACH PERSON can just get up and work and play and eat and travel and call people on the other side of the world and bathe and go to bed and sleep WHENEVER works best for them and their activities and jobs.

And so, as I began, I will quote Thomas with a few twists: Wherefore, laying aside all state pride and prejudice in favour of modes and forms, the plain truth is that IT IS WHOLLY OWING TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE PEOPLE, AND NOT TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE GOVERNMENT that time is not as oppressive in Arizona and Hawaii as it is in _________ (fill in any of the other great 48.) Wake up everyone else, day or night, and let's demand our government stop moving time. There's plenty of other things that need moving and shaking.

9 comments:

Pancake said...

I would LOVE no time change! I can not get up since they sprung ahead!

4boyzmdmom said...

I totally agree with you! And I have yet to meet anyone who likes DST, so why are we still doing it? I had a high school teacher once tell me that we'd never get rid of DST because the merchants want it--they assume if it's still light outside, we're more likely to go shopping! I never go shopping in the evenings, just to protest!
Time zones are a necessary thing, I guess. I like being on EST because so many things are on EST. But the church runs on MST, which can be a pain when you live out here. Take general conference, for example--sessions at 12:00 noon and 4:00--always in the middle of a meal. And the priesthood session--8:00 to 10:00 pm. No taking your sons out for ice cream afterwards--it's too late! We deal with it, though.

The Cranes said...

AMEN!! Eleven years of living in Arizona and I NEVER missed DST even for ONE MICROSECOND. The only grumbling I ever heard from an Arizonan related to DST was about the rest of the crazy country changing which meant our TV shows suddenly changed without warning and half the year we were in MST and the other half we were on PST--although, technically we were still in MST, just stayed on the "TRUE" MST instead of going on daylight savings MST. And then they got this bright idea to make the clocks you buy in the store programmed to change automatically and you couldn't find a regular old-fashioned kind--even in Arizona--so your clock would change even though the time wasn't and of course they didn't think to make them with a way to turn that feature off! So even in Arizona, we felt a little bit of grief over DST but NOTHING like actually having to change your clock. All the natives there that had never done DST were like, "That is so WEIRD! What is that about?!" And all the rest that had done it before always said how glad we were not to have to deal with that nonsense anymore.

Karlene said...

Yes, the changing is difficult to adapt to. I haven't quite adjusted yet. BUT. For someone like me who cannot see in the dark and therefore cannot drive after dark, each time we go to this time, it's like being released from prison. I suddenly get an extra hour to my life, and it's wonderful.

However, I have thought it might be nice if they split the difference, then left it alone. But then we'd be 1/2 hour off with the rest of the world.

RAQ said...

You gotta it sister!!!! or sister-in-law!

mommeeof10 said...

Daylight saving time made sense when the US was an agrarian society, but not so much now that most of us are not farmers. I hate it, especially getting the kids to get up and go to bed at the new time. It makes it even harder when hubby lets them sleep as long as they want on the weekends. Then he complains when they are not tired Sunday night and keep him awake. I see the connection, but he does not.

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Mary Ellen said...

I sort of like the extra hour of daylight at night in the summer, but your points are all good. I remember having to have room-darkening shades in order to trick the kids into thinking it was bedtime! Up here the extra light keeps the mosquitoes away a little longer in the evening, which gives us a little more outside fun or relaxing time, and I'm lucky not to notice any huge disadvantages.

I promise not to advocate for DST - I'll go along if you can get the powers that be to change the system!

Emee said...

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