I Hate Daylight Savings

There are three events that are noted on almost any calendar that drive me nuts and get under my skin. Those three days are Ground Hog Day and the 2 days we either move our clocks ahead or backward an hour. The absurdity of those events raises my blood pressure and sends me off on a rant.

I won’t spend much time on Ground Hog Day but it has always amused me that we would spend good time on the national news covering a rodent predicting the weather. I guess they are just as good as any meteorologist at predicting it but give me a break. The idea of grown men, dressed in tuxedos pulling an overgrown rat out of his den to check to see if he sees his shadow to see how much winter we have left? We have lost our minds but that day amuses me more than irritates me.

On the other hand, the two days we change our clocks infuriate me. Only our government could come up with the hair brained idea that changing the clock forward or backward would be beneficial in any manner. Sure, in the fall I am OK with the idea of gaining an hour of sleep. OK with it until I realize how much it will screw up my schedule for weeks to come. However, the time change in the fall pales in comparison to the time change in the spring. I lose an hour of sleep and my routine is messed up.

Then when I hear some news person refer to the time change as a benefit to farmers, I want to throw something at the TV screen. I have never, ever talked to a farmer who thinks the time change benefits them in any way. If the truth was to be told, most of us probably loath the time change because it makes it dark longer in the morning. There are very few things in this world I hate more than doing chores in the dark (and one of them is losing sleep).

Then in their infinite wisdom the powers that be decided to move the time changes up several years ago, this made it darker longer in the morning and made my blood pressure rise even more each year. I would like to have a few minutes with the people in charge of deciding this (I wonder just who is responsible for determining the time changes). Here is the cold hard fact, no matter when we determine what time it is, there are only so many hours of daylight in a day. We cannot make it daylight any longer simply by changing the clock. So, if you want more hours outside in the daylight, here is an idea for you. Get up earlier and go outside in the morning.

While many blame daylight savings time on farmers, the real ugly truth is that the time change is for the rest of the world. Farmers and ranchers will adjust their schedule for the days getting longer without adjusting their clocks. It’s funny how that works. The sun comes up earlier, you walk out your door earlier and you have more time outside in the daylight.

OK, I know I am not totally being rational either. There are still 24 hours in a day and I could adjust my schedule accordingly. For instance, the night of the time change I could go to bed an hour earlier. The problem with that theory is that the ten o’clock news is still on at ten and if I miss the weather bad things might happen. I am also aware that there is nine o’clock news but watching the news at nine is just not right. I also understand that I could sleep in and go out an hour later to do chores. While intriguing that is not an option either. I am a creature of habit and I do not like change, period. If I go out later in the morning to do chores, then half the day is gone.

I guess I really don’t have a choice about the time change, just like death and taxes it is something none of us like but is inevitable. I still don’t like it, I guess I could move somewhere like Arizona that does not make the time change. While I applaud the wisdom of those folks for making the right decision I probably won’t move there anytime soon. I dislike moving even more than the time change.

I also recognize there are probably people out there who do like the time change and to them all I can say is that I hope you are happy. It is probably a conspiracy perpetuated by alarm clock manufactures and coffee companies to make us buy alarm clocks and need more coffee. In any case, I assure you that it is not something advocated for by the agriculture community so don’t blame us