WHAT IN THE WORLD IS DAYLIGHT SAVINGS? WHERE CAN I BORROW SOME DAYLIGHT?
Peter Andrew Sacco, Ph.D.
November 16, 2007
Is it just me, or is anyone else bothered by this daylight savings time rollback? What the heck is with this roll back thing still? Enough with it! This isn’t Walmart for heaven sake!
I am Canadian, residing in the beautiful region of Niagara Falls. Two weeks ago, the clocks rolled back so instead of it getting dark at 6 pm, we now get to have the darkness roll in at 5 pm. Great! We get our own version of 30 Days of Night minus the vampires, unless you consider the government taking our taxes and heating bills. The question I have rooted to get to the heart of is—why? Why do we still roll the locks back? Why do we punish the majority of people, if not all from who I have spoken with, by making it darker early in order to squeeze that extra 15 minutes of sunlight in the morning for driving? I hear it’s because people are just waking up in the morning and are still half asleep. Guess what folks? People are still half asleep light or no light if they are getting up that early. Easy solution—get a cup or two of java and deal with it!
From what I keep hearing, they roll the clocks back for the farmers. Many years later, I am still trying to wrap my head around this explanation. For starters, who the heck is farming in the dead of winter? What the heck are they growing? For that matter, what the heck is growing in Canada and the Northern USA in the middle of winter? Did I miss something here? Have we gone that “green” that we are now cultivating ice, dead leaves and Christmas carols? Somewhere along the way, I have become oblivious to any explanations which satisfy my inquiring mind. Guess what? No one can give me an answer other than it’s for the farmers and those driving in the early morning to give them more light. Okay, I get that! What about the majority? What majority you may ask?
There are a majority of people who like to come home from work and school and still be able to play outside until the sun goes down…somewhere around 6pm. It beats playing outside until 5pm! Gee, most of us grown-ups are not even home by 5pm yet because of guess what? You got it—darkness! We have to take our times coming home from work because of all the traffic since many people drive slower because its dark. And the darkness is making us all tired. And when we get tired, we drink java. And when we drink java, we’re up all night! There is not a heck of a lot to do after supper wired on caffeine when darkness rolls in other than sit around and gorge like Chia Pets!
Have you ever heard of the term Cabin fever? How about the winter blahs? Gee, I am guessing there is a perpetual correlation between these concepts and rolling back the clocks. Why do so many people seem so tired and miserable all the time since the clocks went back on November 4th? Does anticipating the holiday season bring misery? And why are people upping their caffeine and alcohol consumption? Why do seasonal affective depression (SAD) rates usually start rising around Halloween? I am guessing it is not from the sugar and processed flour deserts we are consuming. Do you not think winter is already gloomy enough with its 3 major colors grey, white and black—grey skies, white snow and black nights? What purpose does it serve? From my vantage point, not a heck of a lot!
I took to the streets, Internet and colleges and asked people what they thought about daylights saving. “Do you enjoy that one night of one extra hour sleep in order for it to start getting dark an hour earlier?” For the life of me and my many questions, I could not find one person, man, woman, teen, youth, or child who likes the rollback, that is unless Walmart is in the same sentence. And the million dollar question is…How in the world do you save daylight in the first place? Do we put it in a jar or piggy bank? How about investing some summer daylight in GIC’s and RRSP’s so we can cash them in during the winter months? With that said, just think…4 more months until the clocks “spring forward”. I know there are many who are already counting down the days besides my-self! In the meantime, it’s almost Thanksgiving. A funny thing struck me the other day! We Canadians get our turkey day at the beginning of October when it is still light out before and after supper. Americans get their turkey dinners shrouded in late afternoon darkness. No wonder no one wants to get up and leave after dinner—it feels like bedtime!
I am Canadian, residing in the beautiful region of Niagara Falls. Two weeks ago, the clocks rolled back so instead of it getting dark at 6 pm, we now get to have the darkness roll in at 5 pm. Great! We get our own version of 30 Days of Night minus the vampires, unless you consider the government taking our taxes and heating bills. The question I have rooted to get to the heart of is—why? Why do we still roll the locks back? Why do we punish the majority of people, if not all from who I have spoken with, by making it darker early in order to squeeze that extra 15 minutes of sunlight in the morning for driving? I hear it’s because people are just waking up in the morning and are still half asleep. Guess what folks? People are still half asleep light or no light if they are getting up that early. Easy solution—get a cup or two of java and deal with it!
From what I keep hearing, they roll the clocks back for the farmers. Many years later, I am still trying to wrap my head around this explanation. For starters, who the heck is farming in the dead of winter? What the heck are they growing? For that matter, what the heck is growing in Canada and the Northern USA in the middle of winter? Did I miss something here? Have we gone that “green” that we are now cultivating ice, dead leaves and Christmas carols? Somewhere along the way, I have become oblivious to any explanations which satisfy my inquiring mind. Guess what? No one can give me an answer other than it’s for the farmers and those driving in the early morning to give them more light. Okay, I get that! What about the majority? What majority you may ask?
There are a majority of people who like to come home from work and school and still be able to play outside until the sun goes down…somewhere around 6pm. It beats playing outside until 5pm! Gee, most of us grown-ups are not even home by 5pm yet because of guess what? You got it—darkness! We have to take our times coming home from work because of all the traffic since many people drive slower because its dark. And the darkness is making us all tired. And when we get tired, we drink java. And when we drink java, we’re up all night! There is not a heck of a lot to do after supper wired on caffeine when darkness rolls in other than sit around and gorge like Chia Pets!
Have you ever heard of the term Cabin fever? How about the winter blahs? Gee, I am guessing there is a perpetual correlation between these concepts and rolling back the clocks. Why do so many people seem so tired and miserable all the time since the clocks went back on November 4th? Does anticipating the holiday season bring misery? And why are people upping their caffeine and alcohol consumption? Why do seasonal affective depression (SAD) rates usually start rising around Halloween? I am guessing it is not from the sugar and processed flour deserts we are consuming. Do you not think winter is already gloomy enough with its 3 major colors grey, white and black—grey skies, white snow and black nights? What purpose does it serve? From my vantage point, not a heck of a lot!
I took to the streets, Internet and colleges and asked people what they thought about daylights saving. “Do you enjoy that one night of one extra hour sleep in order for it to start getting dark an hour earlier?” For the life of me and my many questions, I could not find one person, man, woman, teen, youth, or child who likes the rollback, that is unless Walmart is in the same sentence. And the million dollar question is…How in the world do you save daylight in the first place? Do we put it in a jar or piggy bank? How about investing some summer daylight in GIC’s and RRSP’s so we can cash them in during the winter months? With that said, just think…4 more months until the clocks “spring forward”. I know there are many who are already counting down the days besides my-self! In the meantime, it’s almost Thanksgiving. A funny thing struck me the other day! We Canadians get our turkey day at the beginning of October when it is still light out before and after supper. Americans get their turkey dinners shrouded in late afternoon darkness. No wonder no one wants to get up and leave after dinner—it feels like bedtime!
Print
Email
