This is something that’s been heavy on my heart for the past few days. It has truly affected many areas of my life recently and I just have to let it all out.
I HATE Daylight Saving Time.
First, I get so very irritated when people (cough EVERYONE cough) refers to it as Daylight Savings. It’s not a bank account. There is no “s” at the end. There is one at the beginning of the second word, though. Don’t get cute with me. The proper title is Daylight Saving Time. To save myself the irritation of having to read those words for the rest of this post, I will be referring to it as DST. Funny how close that is to STD.
Secondly, DST simply screws up my life.
How, you might ask? Sleep.
I love sleep. Honestly, too much. That is an issue for another day. When we “fall back” I cherish that extra hour of sleep. But when spring comes around and the evil “spring forward” attacks, I lose it. I can’t do it.
I’m a night owl, so I stay up pretty late, no matter what time I need to get up in the morning. Lately, my tendency has been to go to bed around midnight. Not really a big deal. Until STD hits – I mean DST.
Now, the clock says 12:00AM but my body says I am not even remotely tired. So what do I do? Go to bed and toss and turn for an hour or hour and a half. Or just accept that I’m not sleepy and watch another movie. (Usually the latter.)
So I can’t fall asleep when I should.
Next, I can’t wake up when I should. Alarm is set for 5:30AM. Body says, “Heck no there’s no way I’m getting up this early!” So I end up snoozing until I should BE at work. Not good. Dang you DST.
I go through my day, exhausted. Get home, sit on the couch for a second, wake up from an accidental nap 3 hours later and can’t fall asleep at the proper time.
It’s a vicious cycle. And it’s the leading cause of daylightsavingitis (DSI). DSI symptoms include difficulty in waking up or falling asleep at the proper times and general irritability. Millions of Americans suffer every spring and fall.
And another thing. My parents live in beautiful Phoenix, AZ. They don’t follow the mindless drones and observe DST. They are steadfast. Solid. Unmoving. Trustworthy. I mean the whole state of Arizona! So when the rest of us are forced to drink the Kool-Aid, I have to mentally adjust for them. During the winter, they’re only one hour behind. During the malevolent DST, they’re two. Not cool.
My solution?
Abolish DST. Ban it forever.
Now don’t get me wrong – I love how light it is later in the day when we’re on DST. I do appreciate that. I thoroughly enjoy the daylight I get after work.
My proposition is for everyone to remain on DST all year long! Imagine how wonderful the winter will be with daylight to play in after a long, brutal workday. Dream with me here. Envision never having to change your clock. Granted, the “Oh I forgot about DST” excuse will no longer work, but, hey, I’m sure we can think of an alternative together.
All we have to do is get that great state of AZ on the bandwagon with us, then ride into the sunset and never change again. Come on, Indiana hopped on a few years ago, why not Arizona too? The Native American Reservations already do.
(Side note: That is just weird. You can drive through Arizona, hit a reservation, time changes. Drive out of the reservation, time changes back. Just dumb.)
So who’s with me?
I HATE Daylight Saving Time.
First, I get so very irritated when people (cough EVERYONE cough) refers to it as Daylight Savings. It’s not a bank account. There is no “s” at the end. There is one at the beginning of the second word, though. Don’t get cute with me. The proper title is Daylight Saving Time. To save myself the irritation of having to read those words for the rest of this post, I will be referring to it as DST. Funny how close that is to STD.
Secondly, DST simply screws up my life.
How, you might ask? Sleep.
I love sleep. Honestly, too much. That is an issue for another day. When we “fall back” I cherish that extra hour of sleep. But when spring comes around and the evil “spring forward” attacks, I lose it. I can’t do it.
I’m a night owl, so I stay up pretty late, no matter what time I need to get up in the morning. Lately, my tendency has been to go to bed around midnight. Not really a big deal. Until STD hits – I mean DST.
Now, the clock says 12:00AM but my body says I am not even remotely tired. So what do I do? Go to bed and toss and turn for an hour or hour and a half. Or just accept that I’m not sleepy and watch another movie. (Usually the latter.)
So I can’t fall asleep when I should.
Next, I can’t wake up when I should. Alarm is set for 5:30AM. Body says, “Heck no there’s no way I’m getting up this early!” So I end up snoozing until I should BE at work. Not good. Dang you DST.
I go through my day, exhausted. Get home, sit on the couch for a second, wake up from an accidental nap 3 hours later and can’t fall asleep at the proper time.
It’s a vicious cycle. And it’s the leading cause of daylightsavingitis (DSI). DSI symptoms include difficulty in waking up or falling asleep at the proper times and general irritability. Millions of Americans suffer every spring and fall.
And another thing. My parents live in beautiful Phoenix, AZ. They don’t follow the mindless drones and observe DST. They are steadfast. Solid. Unmoving. Trustworthy. I mean the whole state of Arizona! So when the rest of us are forced to drink the Kool-Aid, I have to mentally adjust for them. During the winter, they’re only one hour behind. During the malevolent DST, they’re two. Not cool.
My solution?
Abolish DST. Ban it forever.
Now don’t get me wrong – I love how light it is later in the day when we’re on DST. I do appreciate that. I thoroughly enjoy the daylight I get after work.
My proposition is for everyone to remain on DST all year long! Imagine how wonderful the winter will be with daylight to play in after a long, brutal workday. Dream with me here. Envision never having to change your clock. Granted, the “Oh I forgot about DST” excuse will no longer work, but, hey, I’m sure we can think of an alternative together.
All we have to do is get that great state of AZ on the bandwagon with us, then ride into the sunset and never change again. Come on, Indiana hopped on a few years ago, why not Arizona too? The Native American Reservations already do.
(Side note: That is just weird. You can drive through Arizona, hit a reservation, time changes. Drive out of the reservation, time changes back. Just dumb.)
So who’s with me?
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