– Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock…-
Daylight savings time has me thinking…..I’m not a fan of the time change. Personally I struggle for weeks to let my body adjust to the rude hour gain/loss. I watch my kids struggle with adjusting, and I find myself wondering WHY we are following this insane pattern. Where did it start? What are the pros and cons, and why are we mindlessly following what I’m pretty sure is an archaic idea that has long since become useless.
So I did a little research and here is what I found:
Benjamin Franklin first suggested Daylight Savings Time, otherwise known as “Fast Time, and “War Time” and most commonly DST, as a way to save candles! Seriously…..This is such an outdated rational. The first Bill for DST in 1909 was opposed by many, especially farmers. The change in time disrupts the habits of livestock, causing them to be fed or milked an hour earlier.
According to National Geographic recent polls confirm that a growing number of people despise DST. A large part of this is due to the lack of supposed benefits to saving power. Studies show that temperature control, and not lighting, is the primary driver of power usage, and so we do not see the benefits to the time change in power savings.
We currently follow the schedule that was introduced in 2007 that extended DST by 1 month following the Energy Policy of 2005.
Studies have shown that the increase of heart attacks climbs as much as 25% on the first Monday following our moving our clocks ahead.
A poll done in 2014 shows that only a third of those polled felt that DST was “worth the hassle”
So for all of my friends that have to listen to my sleep (or lack thereof) tirades, I apologize in advance……but until this outdated ridiculousness is done away with…we are in for a couple of rough weeks adjusting each time our clocks get changed and our internal clocks try to figure out what we are doing…
Kisses,
Ro