Daylight Saving Time

Yesterday, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed legislation to do away with the biannual springing forward and falling back that most Americans have come to despise, in favor of making Daylight Saving Time (DST) permanent. When was the last time that the U.S. Senate voted unanimously for anything?

What I’m not going to ask for this week’s provocative question is whether or not you think we should ditch this ludicrous ritual of twice-yearly changing of the clocks. Of course you do. But I am going to ask you this:

Assuming you agree that we should have the same time year-round rather than moving up an hour each spring and back an hour each fall, do you favor going to permanent Daylight Saving Time or permanent Standard Time? Why do you feel that way?

Fandango: This, That and The Other

My Answer

Luckily this is not something that I have to deal with. I was not a fan of DST when I lived in South Australia but here in Tasmania where we have a mild summer it’s not so bad. When it was first introduced I was in high school and I hated the concept of messing about with the clock so much I literally refused to put my watch forward for several years on principal. As I got older it just became tiresome because it meant that long, hot summer days were even longer and more unbearable.

I had not heard of the idea of permanent DST before this. I think Britain may have adopted it in WWII, I found this in an article in The Guardian.

The Summertime Act of 1916 established two clock changes per year. During the second world war, double British summer time was invented as an energy-saving device, effectively putting the country on the same footing as mainland Europe – GMT+1 in the winter, and GMT+2 in the summer. In 1947, Britain reverted to normal.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jun/24/comment.mainsection2

I remember my mother telling me about double DST. She was a factory worker during the war.

If we had to have either one or the other I would say Standard Time not Daylight Saving. Although our winter mornings are not as cold and dark as parts of the USA I certainly would not like to have it dark until 8 am or later. I think it would be very unpleasant and probably dangerous for people going to work and school.

As I said when I was fourteen, “If people want more daylight they could just get up earlier.” School and work could start earlier and then you would still get the long evenings to do more enjoyable things. The sun should be overhead at midday. That is how things are meant to be.