That Time Change Thing

 

Hashed areas are where DST is not observed.

from NationAtlas.gov

Copyright © 2020

by Ralph F. Couey

Well, its that time again, that twice-a-year misery that marks the onset and end of Daylight Savings Time.  Here in Hawai'i, the shift is not observed, but I remember what a burden it was when I lived in the mainland.  The system's genesis is rather murky, and it's continued existence has depended solely on its own momentum.

The first person to come up with the idea was a fellow named George Hudson, an entomologist in 1895. Yes, a bug guy.  You can probably guess why he wanted an extra hour added to his summer evenings.  It wasn't until 1916 that the first nationwide implementation of DST was done by the German Empire and Austria-Hungarian, two political entities which have both been consigned to the dustbin of history.

Today, the system exists in multiple countries, but even in the United States, there are states and parts of states that refuse to go along with it.  As to the basis for continuing to do it, well, that's a difficult thing to find.

For a long time, it has been assumed that this was implemented so that farmers would have more sunlight in the evening to tend to their crops and stock.  But even when polled, very few farmers and stockmen find it useful.  A huge number of studies have been done in an attempt to prove its value in terms of anything from energy usage, to retail shopping patterns, even to human mortality rates.  When you take the time to review these studies, both for and against, it would seem to be a wash.  The thing is, nobody can produce any substantive proof that the shift in hours has any real benefit at all.

During the winter, staying with DST instead of returning to standard time, means during the short daylight hours in the middle of winter, the sun doesn't rise until after most people have reported to work.  Also, parents complain that kids are sent to wait for the school bus in the dark.  And cold.

But the real complaint comes from all of us.  Truth is, we hate doing this thing twice a year.  While fire safety officials will bemoan the semi-annual reminder to change smoke detector batteries, in truth, most of us just wait until the darn thing starts chirping, a sound about as hard to track down as a cricket.  Timekeepers in business and those who control computer and computer actuated equipment are burdened with making sure things keep functioning with the time change.  People who work nights have their shifts lengthened by an hour in the spring, and then shortened in the fall.  But any benefit is lost with the chaotic burdens imposed by the time shift. 

It would seem that nearly all Americans would rather stay with DST year round, rather than shifting back and forth.  The states that don't participate stick with standard time, which creates scheduling kerfluffles when those patchy zones bump up against each other.  The one thing everyone does agree upon is that the whole idea is almost universally despised.  Some blame the federal government, but this is actually something that can be imposed at the state level.  There are even some individual counties which have declined to participate in the clock scrambling.  Washington DC may seem impossibly far away, at least in terms of influencing legislation, but state legislatures are much closer, and much more accessible to citizens.  Trust me, if enough people in a state demand a change, the change will be made.

The question then begs, which time zone to choose? DST or ST?  Perhaps the state could propose trying one year in standard time, and the next year in daylight time, and see which one is the most popular.  the choice then would be made by state-wide referendum.  I think folks would have to try out each zone through all four seasons to make the choice apparent to them.

Hawai'i, being 1,600 miles closer to the equator, remains on Standard time.  But Alaska, except for the western Aleutian Islands does the time shift.  Having lived here for a couple of years now, I don't really notice an impact on my activities.  The shortest day of the year, December 21, there are 10 hours 50 minutes of daylight.  On the longest day of the year, June 21, there are 13 hours 26 minutes of daylight, so not really much difference.  But that changes as you go north.  Chicago, for example sees twice that differential, about 6 hours between June and December.  Anchorage, Alaska sees 19 hours 21 minutes of daylight in June, but only about 5.5 hours of daylight in December.  For those regions with more extreme differences between June and December, how sticking with one time zone affects business, government, and people carry much more importance.

What I've discovered on this voyage of research discovery is that having two time shifts per year is not under control of the federal government, but lies with the individual states.  If enough states decided to stick with one zone, then the federal government would eventually follow along.

So, remember this when you wake up Sunday morning, bleary-eyed with your circadian rhythms knotted up in confusion, or if you forget one year and show up an hour late for a court appointment to find that a bench warrant has been issued with your name on it.  

This is one of those things that we can change, simply by telling the state legislature, "We don't want to do this anymore."  

But with DST or without DST, we're still going to end up prowling the hallways at some point trying to find that chirping smoke detector.