The Lost Hour
Mar 11th, 2007 by lisa
Can someone please tell me why I had to spend time this morning setting all my clocks one hour ahead? And we had to do it even earlier this year! I’d also like to have someone explain to me how any of us benefit from having an hour taken away from us for the summer months. It would seem to me that you’d want that hour every day because there are more activities to keep you busy during this time of year.
If you answer ‘because it’s Daylight Savings Time’, you will deservedly get an Idiot Slap. Yes, I know it’s DST. But that doesn’t answer my question. That’s like saying ‘I climbed the mountain because it’s there.’ That’s lovely and poetic and all, and a perfectly good answer for why an individual climbs a mountain. However, you don’t drag everyone else up the mountain with you, do you? So, again, I ask: Why am I forced to adjust my clocks twice a year?
Doing a bit of research, I discovered that DST began in the United States during World War I, primarily to save fuel by reducing the need to use artificial lighting.
The last time I checked, World War I ended a long time ago. Plus the impact on fuel consumption by artificial lighting has changed drastically in our day, and the hour we sacrifice in the name of fuel conservation now has a negligible effect at best.
This has been making me grumpy every year. It’s a senseless waste of a good hour. I want my hour back. Dammit, it’s time to stop this nonsense!
