The Daylight Savings time change is really confusing me this year. And every time I go to bed too early, or too late, and wake up at the wrong time, I think of this song by the band Chicago.
I can't figure out what is the benefit of changing the time, whether it happens in October or November; whether it happens in March or April. There are still the same number of hours in every day--it's just that the numbers on those hours are different. It is amazing how much that one hour time change messes with my body's internal clock.
I'm falling asleep on the couch or in front of the computer early in the evening, and I think it's because of the time change. But wait--8:30 p.m. is really 7:30, not 9:30 p.m. Or is it?
It's almost a week into the time change and I suddenly wake up for no apparent reason at 5:30 a.m. But is that really last week's 4:30 or 6:30 a.m.? I can't remember.
My poor mom ended up changing her clocks twice--once on Saturday evening and again on Sunday morning. I know she moved them the right way on Saturday because I visited her that night. I don't know if she moved them back again on Sunday or ahead another hour. Best of all she didn't discover her error until Monday evening when my niece came over to visit. We had a good laugh about it, but I can understand why she got confused. It was the lead story on every single news show for all day Saturday and Sunday.
And darn--I swear that in the olden days it used to be evenly divided between "Standard Time" and "Daylight Savings Time." Six months of one, six months of the other. The last week of April and the last week of October. That seemed fair, somehow, even if it was sometimes confusing whether we should spring-forward or fall-back. Oh that's right--that catchy little phrase was supposed to remind us what to do. But I still can't figure out if I'm gaining an hour or losing an hour. I think either way, we end up losing.
This year, Standard Time started in November (after Halloween! Did it get dark too early or too late for trick or treating last fall? It's so hard to remember.) And it ended the second week of March. So we only had about four months of "Standard" time and if they keep it the same--who knows whether they'll change it yet again--we'll get eight months of "Daylight Savings" time.
Please explain to me what we are "saving," and why. And if it's really Standard time, then why are we getting shorted on our "standard"?
Then there are the states that decide not to participate in this ritual. What's up with that? Maybe they are the smart ones.
So, what time is it, really? And why does it matter? My suggestion is to just leave it one way or the other. I don't even care which time we end up with. But let's figure out what time it really is, once and for all.
And then maybe I can sleep in peace. Or maybe not.
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