Clocks Fall Back Sunday, Reigniting Daylight Saving Time Debate
We've got Halloween coming up this weekend, so those ghosts and goblins we know as trick or treaters could be knocking on our doors in search of some ghoulishly delicious snacks. But the real scary part of the night happens long after the young candy gatherers finish their work.
It’s that time of year again, when we perform our twice-yearly act of collective nonsense: changing the clocks and then arguing about whether we should be changing the clocks.
Whatever We Decide, The Sun Will Do What The Sun Does
Apparently, the sun can’t be trusted to do its job without adult supervision from Congress, state legislatures and millions of people on social media who are absolutely certain they’ve solved the problem. We have Team Daylight Saving Time, Team Standard Time and Team Just Leave the Clocks Alone. Each is convinced the other two are making a terrible mistake, and all of them are prepared to explain why the rest of us should care deeply about the arrangement of numbers on a clock face.
Me? I’m on Team Standard Time. But I’m not looking to make this a hill to die on. I have plenty of other things to worry about, and most of them are considerably more important than whether the sun sets at 5 p.m. or 6 p.m.
Besides, I have a more immediate concern: getting my hour of sleep back.
Soon, we’ll turn our clocks back an hour as we return to standard time, giving ourselves the annual gift of an extra hour of sleep. At least, that’s the theory. In practice, we’ll probably wake up at our usual time anyway, wonder why we’re awake so early, and spend the rest of the day explaining to our bodies that the clock has changed but the universe apparently hasn’t received the memo.
And so begins another round of the great daylight saving time debate.
To be fair, there are legitimate arguments on all sides. Morning sunlight matters. So does having daylight available in the evening. Sleep schedules, schoolchildren, workers and businesses are all affected by how we arrange our days.
But somehow, we’ve managed to turn this into a recurring national exercise in clock-related frustration. Every spring, we surrender an hour of sleep. Every fall, we attempt to recover it. Twice a year, we adjust clocks, reset appliances and try to remember whether the car does this automatically or whether we’ll be staring at the wrong time until March.
And for what? So we can spend several months debating whether it’s better for the sun to rise earlier or set later?
The sun, of course, remains blissfully indifferent to our opinions. It will continue to rise and set according to the laws of physics, regardless of what Congress, state legislatures or the neighborhood Facebook page decides.
Personally, I like the idea of keeping the clocks on standard time and letting human beings adjust their schedules without requiring a twice-yearly government-sanctioned time warp.
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But I’m not looking to die on this hill. If someone has a compelling argument for another arrangement, I’m happy to hear it. I just don’t want to hear it before sunrise, especially if we’re still arguing about what time sunrise ought to be.
For now, I’ll take my extra hour of sleep, reset whatever clocks need resetting and try not to get too worked up about the whole thing.
After all, we have bigger problems to solve.
But first, a nap. At least an hour long.
7 Household Chores to Add to Your To-Do-List While Setting Clocks Back (or forward!)
Gallery Credit: JD Knight
