We’ve been robbed!!! There was no 2:15 a.m. today. Nor a 2:30 nor a 2:55 a.m. One minute it was 1:59 a.m., and the next it was 3:00 a.m.!!! The clock high on the wall in the living room suddenly read the ‘correct’ time for the first time since early November and suddenly it was my bedtime in the blink of an eye … 3:00 a.m. The clocks in the bathrooms, on the stove and the microwave are now all wrong. And why??? Who made the decision that we should lose an hour of our lives just so it could stay light until after 9:00 p.m. in mid-summer? Well, according to History.com …
The real reasons for daylight saving are based around energy conservation and a desire to match daylight hours to the times when most people are awake. The idea dates back to 1895, when entomologist George Vernon Hudson unsuccessfully proposed an annual two-hour time shift to the Royal Society of New Zealand.
Ten years later, the British construction magnate William Willett picked up where Hudson left off when he argued that the United Kingdom should adjust their clocks by 80 minutes each spring and fall to give people more time to enjoy daytime recreation. Willett was a tireless advocate of what he called “Summer Time,” but his idea never made it through Parliament.
The first real experiments with daylight saving time began during World War I. On April 30, 1916, Germany and Austria implemented a one-hour clock shift as a way of conserving electricity needed for the war effort. The United Kingdom and several other European nations adopted daylight saving shortly thereafter, and the United States followed suit in 1918. (While Germany and Austria were the first countries to implement daylight savings, the first towns to implement a seasonal time-shift were Port Arthur and Fort William, Canada in 1908.)
Most Americans only saw the time adjustment as a wartime act, and it was later repealed in 1919. Standard time ruled until 1942, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt re-instituted daylight saving during World War II. This time, more states continued using daylight saving after the conflict ended, but for decades there was little consistency with regard to its schedule. Finally, in 1966, Congress passed the Uniform Time Act, which standardized daylight saving across the country and established its start and end times in April and October (later changed to March and November in 2007).
Today, daylight saving time is used in dozens of countries across the globe, but it remains a controversial practice. Most studies show that its energy savings are only negligible, and some have even found that costs are higher, since people in hot climates are more apt to use air conditioners in the daytime.
Meanwhile, Hawaii and Arizona have opted out of daylight saving altogether and remain on standard time year round. In March 2023, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida reintroduced a bill to make daylight saving time permanent across the country, arguing an end to the “antiquated practice” of changing clocks twice a year.
The original bill, called the Sunshine Protection Act, passed the Senate in 2022, but it stalled in the House and expired at the end of the last 2022 session of Congress.
And now, once again Congress is trying to ensure that we never regain that hour we lost last night, and with the McCarthy House, it’s more likely to happen. ‘Twould be really nice if they put as much effort into protecting the environment or reducing gun deaths as they do robbing us of an hour or our lives! I am planning to sue for an hour of my life lost forever … if I can just figure out the monetary value of my life, then divide it into hours … an hour of my life comes to … approximately 38 cents!!! Now I just need to find a lawyer who will take my case …
Filosofa's Word 
Absolutely Fng hate Daylight Savings. I don’t want more daylight in the evening hours. I like it light in the mornings, like it’s supposed to be. But it’s all about the people who don’t want to get up in the mornings, apparently.
& as far as saving energy, I’m looking out my front window & every single house on my street has the light on by their front door. Most of these people have this light on ALL DAY & ALL NIGHT LONG. I really don’t understand this. My outside lights are all motion activated (& not by small animals, you have to be a human being to activate the lights. I’ve had neighbors who had lights that were activated by small animals that was REALLY ANNOYING).
I know there’s people who get depressed when it gets dark at 4 or 5 in the evening but I’m one of those people who get depressed when it’s still sunny & bright at 8 or 9 p.m. & there’s all kinds of noise in the neighborhood because people think it’s still the middle of the afternoon & heaven forbid they think about the person who might want to Fng sleep. But of course, I have to be quiet for them in the morning because they’re sleeping & I’m not a jerk.
LikeLiked by 3 people
I agree … and bottom line is that it mostly boils down to money, like everything else.
The people across the street from us keep their outdoor light on day and night, and no matter how I adjust my blinds, it still shines in my bedroom in the wee hours when I’m trying to sleep.
I enjoy daylight later in the evening, but it does that naturally anyway. I remember when my children were very young and their bedtime was 8:00, but in the summer it was hard as hell to get them to bed, for it was still daylight out. Time is a manmade construct, but why do we constantly have to be playing around with it?
LikeLike
It’s the same with me & my neighbor Randy. He has a really bright light at his back/side door, which is on ALL night long … since his house is basically the same as mine, he HAS to know that it shines into my bedrooms. I hang a blanket over my window … which works OK. But I don’t get this business of having a light burning all night. Are you waiting for someone to stop by? My sister says it’s to keep burglars away, but your house doesn’t get broken into at night … your house gets broken into during the day, when you’re at work or on vacation & it’s usually by someone who’s been checking out your movements so they know when you’re there .. so a light being on isn’t going to help this. It’s just STUPID.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Agreed on all counts. But then, I’ve noticed more and more as I’ve gotten older that people far too often think of nobody but themselves and their own convenience.
LikeLike
I really noticed this when Elizabeth II died. So many of her statements speak of being in service to other people. This attitude was one I grew up with, that you were part of a greater whole, whether it was your family, or your community, your country, the world. Even during the protests of the 60s & 70s, that was still a constant. After the 80s & “greed is good” & the “self-esteem” movement & how that all was supercharged in the 21st century, nobody cares a damn for anyone but themselves now. It’s all “my” feelings, “my” reality, how “I identify” … nothing about “identifying with others” or empathizing with others’ feelings or heaven forbid, being in service for other people. In the 21st century, selfishness reigns. It’s part & partial of the political climate.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Agreed … self-centered views have been on the rise for some time, but today … it seems that the floodgates have opened and it’s “Every man [person] for him[her]self! That’s why I do the ‘good people’ posts on Wednesday, to remind us all that there ARE still people out there who are more concerned with the greater good than their own material pleasure.
LikeLike
Amen to the last paragraph….AMEN👏👏👏
LikeLiked by 1 person
And now the UK entry for the Grumpy Old Geezer, 100 word dash…..
One of biggest tom fool ideas Humanity ever came up with. Day and night times are dictated to by the movement of our planet around the Sun. Twiddling around with the clocks is only deluding ourselves into a sad belief we have made more summer time. Life in the wild adjusts. So should we. Instead all a large portion of humanity in the West prances about in the ‘lighter evenings’ thinking that all is fun, sunshine and lollipops, forgetting that some folk still have to get up and 5 – 6am. We’ve got folk here who want Double Summer time. Of course they are either idle gad-abouts or Tory MPs looking to make more money out of pubs, clubs and restaurants.
(And he’s broken the UK and European records with a spectacular 111 words in the 100 word time frame…Magnificent performance…We’ll be seeing more from this geezer I am sure)
LikeLiked by 1 person
👏👏👏 BRAVO, Sir Roger!!! Well said and so very true! Can’t wait for the next performance … and good job almost meeting the 100 word time frame!
LikeLike
Thank you for shared this very interesting information, Jill!I had never read it so understandably. Even if we have to state that it is again only about the money of the rich.;-/, xx Michael
LikeLiked by 1 person
You have daylight savings time, or some equivalent there too, don’t you? Yes, when something doesn’t make much sense, you can usually bet that it boils down to money and wealth. Sigh. xx
LikeLike
Reblogged this on https:/BOOKS.ESLARN-NET.DE.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Michael!!!
LikeLike
I wish they found a way of just adding another hour to our sleep
LikeLiked by 3 people
Meeeeee tooooooo!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
While I do appreciate the brighter longer days, I do agree the toll the time change has on you is jarring. I wouldn’t be too upset if they phase this practice out.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Call it 8:00 or call it 7:00, they aren’t gonna change what nature has decided, so leave it alone!!! Sigh. My circadian rhythm is off now! The older you get, the harder it is to adapt. I’m beyond ancient now, so they should leave me alone! 😉
LikeLiked by 2 people
You should rebel and just ignore it. Haha. I do seem to think it’s on its way of being phased out.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I mostly do ignore it, but I have that luxury, since I’m retired and have no time commitments. Others, like yourself, aren’t so lucky!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You can partially blame Aotearoa for all arguments over the settings of clocks. We were the first country to set an official time way back in 1868. And we’ve dabbled with time ever since. We’ve had 30 minutes daylight saving all year round since WW2 and since 1974 add an extra hour over the summer months.
Over most of Aotearoa, daylight savings has overwhelming support. Having said that, there is a call by some in the very south for the removal of daylight savings and in the very north for daylight savings all year round. That’s understandable as the seasonal changes in daylight hours is more extreme the further away you are from the equator.
As for suing for that hour lost, just remember you’re given an extra hour at the end of daylight saving. What if the power’s that be consider that is worth more than the hour you lost? You’d be out of pocket even if you could persuade a lawyer to work pro bono.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow … the 30 minute difference would be even harder to get used to than the hour, I should think. Aotearoa, for you guys didn’t force us to go along. Here, nearly every year of late, Congress tries to pass a bill making daylight savings time permanent, but thus far they have been unsuccessful. You make a good point about my proposed lawsuit … we do get it back in the fall, so I guess I’ll just shut up and live with it! 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
This post made me laugh, Jill. We’re coming to the end of our daylight savings period – thank goodness – and I, personally, would be happy if we never had another one. In summer, we have more than enough daylight hours as it is without adding to them. -grump-
LikeLiked by 3 people
I’m always happy to bring a laugh!!! Ah yes … just as our winter is winding down, so is your summer. In truth, apart from about a week of sub-zero temps and snow around Christmas, we really haven’t had any typical winter weather, which I find concerning. I’m with you … no matter what the government deems our clocks must say, there will be a certain amount of daylight hours and a certain number of darkness hours, as determined by Nature, not Government! I’m ‘grump’ing right along with you, my friend!
LikeLiked by 3 people
Hail, Fellow Grump! 😀 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pingback: Robbed!!! We’ve Been Robbed!!! | Ned Hamson's Second Line View of the News
I guess because my days of youth and partying are over, the addition of an extra hour of sunlight just doesn’t “do it” for me. In fact, I’ve never completely understand the attraction … I mean, even without switching, the days are longer so the partiers still have plenty of daylight. But the KIDS have to walk to school in the DARK! I wonder what would happen if (the gods forbid) a child gets struck by a car during those DARK morning hours …
LikeLiked by 1 person
All good points! I’ve never been a fan of switching back-and-forth, even in my younger days. I remember when I worked for a living, this ‘spring forward’ switch played havoc with me for 2-3 weeks! Yep, the kids walk to school in the dark, but then they did that from November thru February, too. Ah well … another of those things that we have no control over and never will. Sigh.
LikeLiked by 1 person