November 2, 2015 (Monday)
Yesterday we returned to Standard Time. We will be on Standard Time for four months, then return to Daylight Saving Time for eight months.
We started adjusting our clocks like this during World War 2. Several months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the country went on “War Time.” After the war, we renamed it to “Daylight Saving Time.” From 1945 to 1966, however, states and local entities had the option of observing it or not. This created a lot of confusion with trains, buses, etc. and their schedules. So in 1966 a law was passed to observe uniform dates for Daylight Saving Time, with the actual dates for the changes adjusted several times since. Now we go to Daylight Saving Time the second Sunday of March and change back to Standard Time the first Sunday of November.
The ideas behind making this change are to make better use of the daylight hours and to conserve energy.
Another helpful tool used world-wide is the separation of areas around in the world into “time zones.” When it’s 5:00 p.m. in New York City, it’s only 2:00 p.m. in Los Angeles.
Here in Rockport when we “go to town” we go to Corpus Christi, about 35 miles from here. In Farwell, TX they go to Clovis, New Mexico, only about 10 miles away. The difference is that those two cities are in different time zones. If you live in Farwell and leave your house for a 10:00 a.m. doctor’s appointment, you must leave your house at about 10:30 a.m. in order to get to the doctor’s office by 9:45 a.m. I suppose the folks out there get used to thinking that way.
We tried keeping Daylight Saving Time year round one year, but soon discovered problems, such as children having to await and board the school bus in the dark.
So we adjust to the change, because, evidently, it’s here to stay. In November, folks make it to church on time because they have an extra hour, but in March, some get there late because they forgot that an hour had been lost. I almost forgot myself last March, and I did forget yesterday.
Every time I think about Daylight Saving Time I think about the lady who sent an angry letter to the editor, complaining that the extra hour of sunlight was ruining her lawn. As Art Linkletter used to say, “People are funny.”