Daylight Saving Time

We've just turned our clocks ahead by one hour. What a bloody nuisance.

This all started during the First World War as a measure to save power. To save coal, to save on incandescent lighting, lamp oil and even candle wax, to benefit retailing, sports and other activities, it was thought wise to add an extra hour of evening light. (As far back as 1784, Benjamin Franklin satirically proposed taxing shutters, rationing candles and waking the public at dawn by ringing church bells and firing cannons, thus utilizing more daylight malgré nous. I'd give that idea serious consideration today!) I remember the argument that DST would give farmers more daylight to tend the crops, which is ridiculous because farmers, like the birds, adjust their work schedule to the sun regardless of clock time. The province with the most farmers, Saskatchewn, never changes its clocks.

In our house, we have eight analog and eight digital clocks. Three of the analog clocks are mounted close to the ceiling, which requires fetching a step-ladder. To remount them after adjustment requires dexterity and patience. There is a slot on the back allowing it to hook on a nail, but it is impossible to see either the nail or the slot as the clock is moved into place, so it's a matter of trying to judge the proper location. It has taken me, at times, the better part of five minutes to find the slot. Try it some time! By comparison, the digitals are easy - one click of the hour button does it. (Eleven clicks in the fall.) Our three analog watches are adjusted the old-fashioned way, but I don't wear mine any longer: I don't need it in the house of so many clocks and I never leave home without my cell phone which always has the right time. The telephone company automatically changes a land-line phone and my cellphone and my computer are automatic, of course. The clock in the car requires me to get out the manual every time; just when I had it down pat in my last car, I had to go and trade, stupid me; they're all different.

So as you can see, it's not a matter of a few minutes. And the result generally is less than perfect in that no two clocks agree; some are one or two minutes fast, others slow. It perhaps doesn't matter, except that television programs start and end on the exact hour or half-hour and they always have the right time. So if the clock is fast, you miss the first news headline, or if slow you must endure a minute or two of commercial. Other than TV watching or getting to the doctor on time, I'm not really a stickler for the exact time. That was not always the case.

Prior to my retirement, I kept my watch to the exact second. At work one day, a colleage and I compared watches and he was seven seconds off; I asked him how he could live that way. He gave me a sideways glance. Every once in a while, the folks at Greenwich determined that a second had to be added or subtracted to correct for an anomaly in the earth's rotation or whatever. I would complain that I wasn't advised.

I would get strange looks. I tried to keep a straight face.

I will vote for the first polititian who promises to eliminate time changes. If DST is so great, let's have it all year!