Opinions on Daylight Savings

By Editor | March 13, 2024 |

On Saturday night, I rolled my clocks forward an hour like everyone else. I grumbled, like I always do, temporarily forgetting that awesome feeling that will occur months down the road when I get to roll the clocks backward.

I was completely cognizant that the clocks had moved forward an hour. Sunday, on more than one occasion, I remarked more than once that it “feels earlier than it is.” Millions of other people probably joined me in that sentiment.

Regardless of my level of awareness, I still woke to my alarm on Monday morning and stared at the window like an idiot. Where, for several weeks now, there had been a pleasant, rosy glow, there was now a cold, black void. “Oh, it’s dark again,” I remarked to nobody in particular. I then hit the “Snooze” button and rolled over for five more minutes.

There’s a pretty common misconception out there that Daylight Savings Time was first designed to benefit farmers and other laborers. According to some basic research, though, this turns out to be an untruth. In reality, DST was first implemented in the United States to conserve coal and other energy resources during World War I. This energy-saving method was implemented again in World War II, and standardized in 1966.

So, rather than the quaint and folksy argument that we go through this every year “for the farmers” (God bless ‘em), the answer is a little more complicated. Well, actually, it isn’t. It’s about money. Like everything else.

Regardless of the reason we do it, it’s still odd how we as human beings feel like we have to control everything around us to the point of manipulating it when it doesn’t suit us. We first invented this construct called time, initially measured with shadows and burning candles and water-clocks and all kinds of devices. We developed elaborate mechanisms, clockwork, to track this invented construct down to individual units: hours, seconds, and minutes. Then, when we decided we needed an extra hour a day to fritter about without burning expensive coal, we basically said, “Eh, this is something we made up anyway, why not change it?”

Other than being amused by the simple hubris of the idea, I find it hard to have an opinion on Daylight Savings Time either way. As stated previously, I’m always frustrated at this time of year, at least for a few days, because I feel like I’m regressing in the mornings. We enjoy a few days or weeks of nice, sunny warmth during the morning commute. Then, cruelly, we’re blasted backwards into the dark and cold again.

But, I do appreciate the extra time in the afternoon. I also enjoy “falling back” later in the year. It feels like a special gift of an extra hour! How nice!

There is currently a big debate, here in Kentucky and nationwide, about doing away with DST forever. There are all kinds of opinions on the idea, and folks will likely squabble on it for a while, each convinced he’s in the right. There’s currently no way of knowing which way folks will vote, though, as the bills are moving through various legislatures. (Kentucky’s is House Bill 674, introduced by Representative Steven Doan, Republican.)

This is one argument that I can sit back and enjoy without taking a side, because it doesn’t matter to me either way. An hour is an hour. Whether I’m going to work in the sunshine or in the darkness, I’m still going to work. And, since it’s not 1632, the hour that it gets dark really doesn’t bother me that much, either. I work. I pay my electric bill. And, barring that, I know how to build a fire. Bring on that early darkness.

The human race loves being in control, so let’s see how it all turns out. All I know is there are numerous examples where we’ve tried to control things and failed catastrophically, from the Challenger disaster to the Hindenburg to Roy of Siegfried and Roy getting mauled by a tiger. Sometimes, things aren’t meant to be controlled. Maybe time is one of those things.

Posted in Editorial