The Time Warp-- Uh, Change
Well, it's that time again, folks. Like all the other rites of Spring, a welcome change in our normal routine is coming up. I'm talking about the Time Change. That little duty that proves two things: 1) We are completely dependent on our system of measuring the days and; 2) we, as a species, are capable of behaving with at least as much cooperation as an anthill.
If you sense a note of hostility over this particular Spring Rite, you would be more perceptive than the average husband and probably wearing eye liner to prove it. Truth is, I find the whole Time Change nonsense nothing more than a pain in the neck. I spend most of the month of April feeling cheated of that hour we just lost. Sure, we get it back in October. But what good is it then? It's DARK then!
And, who's kidding who? We don't just lose ONE hour. We lose an hour every day. By the end of the Time Change that amounts to roughly 180 hours, or more than a week of our lives! It's no wonder we feel rushed all the time. We're a week behind the rest of the world!
But I suspect the really smart people are staying with Standard Time. This would explain why they know things before we do. Okay. That means, it's a plot to keep us in line. Never mind Orwell's "opium of the masses." If we're behind the times, even by one hour, who cares what we know? It's too late, anyway!
The only reason everyone goes along with the time change is that they think they're gaining an hour's sleep. That sounds so great, since we're all so overworked and short on time to begin with, that we accept it unquestioningly. But actually the hour is being stolen from us.
And I cannot help resenting that theft. Especially since I seem to find myself having trouble keeping up for the entire summer. Each morning, I wake feeling that I should have gotten up an hour earlier, that I must rush to catch up. If not for the time change I might actually have time to call my mother (she always takes at least an hour to say hello).
That's it. Now I know what I can say the next time she calls and asks why I haven't called her. "It's the time change, Mom, it's not me."
But, seriously (if that's even possible at this point). If you think about it, the Time Change is probably the single most silly ritual that we, as a society, perpetuate. The original intent was supposedly so that farmers did not have to rise at the un-Godly hour of 3:30 (that's A.M., folks) and could snooze away until all of, hey!, 4:30 A.M. which, in my opinion is just as un-holy. Wow. What a difference. It causes us, as a species to defer sunrise for a whole hour.
And we wonder why some nations think we're arrogant.
But farmers are sensible folk. They don't really CARE if they get up at 3:30 or 4:30. They're smart enough to figure out that either way, that's EARLY in any book, so what difference does it make? The cows still need milking no matter what the time.
I remember once, in the early 1970's when they tried eliminating the Time Change. Of course, they did not eliminate Daylight Savings Time, but Standard Time-- go figure. Obviously they were biased to the idea of sleeping in. It makes one wonder if they really were trying to steal our time, but were silly enough to think they could do it on a permanent basis.
It was only enacted for one year. When elementary school children were standing at bus stops in the dark (around the Winter Solstice), they realized the error of their ways. So they acquiesed, returning to the flip-flop of switching. They were happy just to have their half-year of stolen hours. Now if we could just get them to consider giving UP Daylight Savings altogether. . . . nay! They'd never go for that!--mo
If you sense a note of hostility over this particular Spring Rite, you would be more perceptive than the average husband and probably wearing eye liner to prove it. Truth is, I find the whole Time Change nonsense nothing more than a pain in the neck. I spend most of the month of April feeling cheated of that hour we just lost. Sure, we get it back in October. But what good is it then? It's DARK then!
And, who's kidding who? We don't just lose ONE hour. We lose an hour every day. By the end of the Time Change that amounts to roughly 180 hours, or more than a week of our lives! It's no wonder we feel rushed all the time. We're a week behind the rest of the world!
But I suspect the really smart people are staying with Standard Time. This would explain why they know things before we do. Okay. That means, it's a plot to keep us in line. Never mind Orwell's "opium of the masses." If we're behind the times, even by one hour, who cares what we know? It's too late, anyway!
The only reason everyone goes along with the time change is that they think they're gaining an hour's sleep. That sounds so great, since we're all so overworked and short on time to begin with, that we accept it unquestioningly. But actually the hour is being stolen from us.
And I cannot help resenting that theft. Especially since I seem to find myself having trouble keeping up for the entire summer. Each morning, I wake feeling that I should have gotten up an hour earlier, that I must rush to catch up. If not for the time change I might actually have time to call my mother (she always takes at least an hour to say hello).
That's it. Now I know what I can say the next time she calls and asks why I haven't called her. "It's the time change, Mom, it's not me."
But, seriously (if that's even possible at this point). If you think about it, the Time Change is probably the single most silly ritual that we, as a society, perpetuate. The original intent was supposedly so that farmers did not have to rise at the un-Godly hour of 3:30 (that's A.M., folks) and could snooze away until all of, hey!, 4:30 A.M. which, in my opinion is just as un-holy. Wow. What a difference. It causes us, as a species to defer sunrise for a whole hour.
And we wonder why some nations think we're arrogant.
But farmers are sensible folk. They don't really CARE if they get up at 3:30 or 4:30. They're smart enough to figure out that either way, that's EARLY in any book, so what difference does it make? The cows still need milking no matter what the time.
I remember once, in the early 1970's when they tried eliminating the Time Change. Of course, they did not eliminate Daylight Savings Time, but Standard Time-- go figure. Obviously they were biased to the idea of sleeping in. It makes one wonder if they really were trying to steal our time, but were silly enough to think they could do it on a permanent basis.
It was only enacted for one year. When elementary school children were standing at bus stops in the dark (around the Winter Solstice), they realized the error of their ways. So they acquiesed, returning to the flip-flop of switching. They were happy just to have their half-year of stolen hours. Now if we could just get them to consider giving UP Daylight Savings altogether. . . . nay! They'd never go for that!--mo
posted by Marige | 6/10/2008 12:44:00 PM
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