13 Reasons Why Daylight Saving Time is Dumb
1. Daylight Saving Time (DST) lacks consistency globally. Even from region to region, there is not always a uniform start and end time, or whether or not a region even participates. Ever hear of Indiana? To further wreck havoc, in 2007, the US Government decided to extend DST by several weeks in each direction.
2. DST creates confusion regarding last call at the bars. If an hour of drinking time is gained are local laws broken? If an hour of valuable drinking time is lost, will that trigger a riot?
3. DST is yet another suspect government policy concocted by a womanizer. Thanks a lot Ben Franklin!
4. Roosters and other farm animals don't really observe DST.
5. In the summer, the sun already shines 24 hours a day in Antarctica. What's the point?
6. DST can severely disrupt people's circadian clock. Think forced Jet Lag! I don't know about you, but I don't like anything messing with my sleep. You know the saying, let a sleeping dog lie? Well, the government better make sure they have their rabies shots up to date!
7. When we "fall back" a paradox may occur where identical twins are born out of birth order. Really, it can actually happen! The first child is delivered at 1:59am and, five minutes later, the next baby is born at 1:04am. That's before the older sibling! Hurry, go check the space-time continuum!
8. DST endangers children. With the extension of DST, the safety of school children is compromised as they are now required to go to school in the dark before the sun rises.
9. Lost productivity for businesses. Meeting times are often difficult to coordinate during each time shift. Not to mention the loss of productivity from employees with disrupted sleep patterns.
10. Computer mishaps can be attributed to DST. Most modern software incorporates measures to address DST, but not all updates are foolproof. Remember Y2K? Anyway, my wife is a scientist and she was forced to reanalyze a massive amount of data for her study that spanned across a DST time shift.
11. On the first Monday after DST, studies suggest a higher rate of heart attacks, car accidents, and work-related accidents.
12. What about your household pets? I'm surprised PETA isn't up in arms. They are usually more upset about the inhumane treatment of animals than any inhumane treatment of humans. And to force a dog to go for a walk an hour earlier or later just might equate to torture! Okay, never mind animals. What about the young kids? Does anyone enjoy the nuclear fallout when a young child's routine is played with? Now multiply that by sleep deprivation and you've got WWIII!
13. DST adjustments occur twice per year. Whether it only takes you a single day to adjust to the time change, or several weeks, multiply the unnecessary stress, sleep loss, and other risk factors by two.
How does Daylight Saving Time affect you?
Thanks to niseag03 on Flickr for the great photo.
Where I live, we change the time this weekend - but I must confess it really don't affect me in any way. I'm just as messed up with or without DST :-)...
ReplyDeleteGreat thoughts.
Hi Annika,
DeleteNice of you to comment!
You haven't time-shifted yet, so you just proved my first point ;-) That awkward period of a few weeks where the US decided to go rogue and the rest of the world just quietly shakes its head.
I do a bit of traveling for work and often have to deal with Jet Lag. You're lucky if DST doesn't really affect you!
I live at the far edge of a time zone, so DST can feel rather dramatic. Like in November when the sun is already gone at 4:30pm instead of 5:30pm.
Daylight saving time would be great with one tiny adjustment. They should make the clocks go back twice a year, instead of dragging us out of bed an hour early in spring.
ReplyDeleteI'll sign that petition! :-)
DeleteThanks for commenting, Carrie.