IS DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME A STUPID IDEA OR WHAT?

IS DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME A STUPID IDEA OR WHAT?

I think there are a lot of things worth saving in this world. Among them, I include saving money, saving souls, and saving face. I definitely do not believe there is any reason in the world to save daylight. The advocates of the Daylight Saving Time movement are totally out to lunch and have been for well over a century. It is time to remedy this absurd practice!

DST was first introduced in Europe in the late 1800s and has been adopted by over seventy countries around the world. That means that over 65% of the world thinks it is a stupid idea and they do not utilize DST. The notion of changing our clocks forward for an hour in Spring and back for one hour in Fall makes no sense at all.

Supporters of the movement argue that an extra hour of sunlight is added during the summer months so that people can enjoy more time in the outdoors during daylight hours. Let me suggest a simpler alternative for this group of deep thinkers. Instead of moving the clock ahead an hour, just get out of bed one hour earlier than usual and you will achieve the same end - one more hour of daylight. How much more simple can the solution be?

Over the years, it has been argued in some locations that the “extra” hour of sunlight benefits farmers who harvest their crops in the fall. That might have been a reason in 1900, but it is as hollow a reason today as voting for the Liberals! Other arguments revolve around using less electricity and saving energy because of the extra daylight, but research has failed to confirm this assumption. The idea that there are fewer car accidents because of DST is also false.

Some of the arguments against DST are very interesting, but I am not sure how valid they really are. Recklessly switching the clock back and forth by sixty minutes has been argued by some researchers to result in increased heart attacks, obesity, depression, and interrupted sleep patterns. I have also heard reports that more animals are killed accidentally on the highways during switch-over times and we need to help our house pets adapt to the traumatic adding or subtracting of an hour from their day. Just imagine the chaos that would result if we were to add or subtract TWO hours each Spring and Fall. The possible catastrophic consequences that might result just causes my mind to freeze. The horrors would be unimaginable!

My favorite analogy of the value of Daylight Saving Time as a solution to a non-problem has been provided by our First Nations people. They logically argue that if you have a rectangular blanket and cut one foot off the end of the blanket and sew the one foot back on to the other end of the blanket, you have achieved nothing. It is not often that the wisdom of our indigenous people coincides with my thoughts, but this analogy does.

If you require one more convincing argument to eliminate DST consider that 1.1 million inhabitants of Saskatchewan have not observed the practice of DST for six decades. Is there a more likable, healthy, funloving collection of country cousins than we have living one province east of us? If it’s good enough for Saskabushians, it’s good enough for me!

Let’s abandon this needless DST ritual and spend our time and effort on more critical issues such as gender-neutral bathrooms and low-calorie marijuana brownie recipes!