Slouch ahead

I work from home on virtual Eastern Time. My home office is three time zones east of here, so I start my day at 6:30 my time in order to be available for meetings and other required interaction. Occasionally, I'm at my desk at 6, although fortunately I don't have to attend too many 9 o'clock Eastern time meetings.

Last week, I would get up, look out the kitchen window as I fed the cat and made breakfast, and feel just a bit better because I started to see some dawn's early light. All during winter, 6 a.m. is really the same as the middle of the night. It's pitch black. But the rosy fingers of dawn have now been withdrawn again for several more weeks, thanks to the insidious thing called Daylight Saving Time.

There was no springing ahead yesterday. I mean, really, who "springs" ahead? Annoyingly perky people, maybe. At any rate, the start of DST on a Sunday isn't usually so bad. This year, at least, I didn't have to be anywhere. We were smart enough to schedule band practice on Saturday! But the first Monday is the test. I usually start out fine. Then I start dragging.

Daylight Saving Time is useless at best. Once upon a time, it was supposed to save energy. I remember seeing a study that indicated that if this was ever true, it is no longer. It might even cause greater energy use! I certainly have to switch on a light to start work.

Did you know that a study done in Canada showed that single-vehicle accidents—most often attributed to inattentiveness or falling asleep—increased by seven percent in the week after the start of Daylight Saving Time? And went down by seven percent during "fall back" week? They had a control to measure against: Saskatchewan. Prairie farmers apparently don't cotton to this DST nonsense. No DST in Arizona or Hawaii either.

I'd really love it if noon meant "sun at highest point" all year round. And if people really want more daylight toward the end of the day, they can start their day an hour earlier! That's all DST does anyway.