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| Photo by Steve Collis |
by Peggy Robin
Daylight Saving Time starts at 2 AM tonight. I wish we could all boycott it! Let’s not spring ahead --let’s all stand pat. Why should we have to run around the house twice a year, resetting the time? What made sense during World War II (which is when daylight saving time was mandated for the whole country) is just a nuisance these days. Farmers have always hated it (the rooster keeps on crowing at the crack of dawn, no matter what time the clock says it is). Ask any parents of a baby or toddler about the havoc done to their children’s nap schedule. Or think how you feel when you’re hosting a gathering on the Sunday morning after the time change and you’re wondering where everyone is. All this extra stress … and all for a seriously outmoded notion of energy conservation.
Here are a few good reasons to stick to a single time all year round:
* It doesn’t *really* save energy. See: http://phys.org/news/2014-03-daylight-energy.html
* It *does* waste money and time: http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/bulletin/us-economy-lost-433982548-because-of-daylight-saving-time/
* It’s even bad for your health:http://www.slate.com/blogs/business_insider/2014/03/08/when_is_daylight_saving_time_it_starts_march_9_and_it_s_bad_for_your_health.html
* It’s confusing -- hard to keep track of which states are on Daylight Saving Time and which ones have opted out. (The non-observant parts of the US are: Most of Arizona (except the Navajo Nation), Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Parts of Indiana used to opt out but since 2006 the entire state has been united in observing daylight saving time, despite being split into different time zones. See:http://www.timeanddate.com/time/us/arizona-no-dst.html
Do these arguments make sense to you? Then sign the petition to end the twice-yearly clocking of America. The only trouble is what petition to sign. Apparently the people who want to unite behind a single, unchanging time can’t manage to unite behind a single petition. Here are FIVE different petitions on the subject:
I’d sign them all, but I can't be bothered right now. I've got to get to work figuring out how to reset all my clocks, watches, appliance timers....so many things and so little time.
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Still Life With Robin is published on the Cleveland Park Listserv and on All Life Is Local on Saturdays.
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