# Time for my semi-annual clock-changing rant **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 6, 2003, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-my-semi-annual-clock-changing-rant/166926 "2003-04-06T21:53:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Rasa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rasa/32/3578_2.png) [@Rasa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rasa)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-my-semi-annual-clock-changing-rant/166926/41 "2003-04-07T14:18:56Z")
I never remember about the changing the clocks thing; my mom always makes a point of calling me and reminding me that night… and I’m 27 yrs old. This year, for the first time ever, she forgot to remind me (and I spent most of Sat. evening with her) so I woke up on my day off, Sunday, thinking “Aah, it’s 11 am, not too late, not too early… wait, why the hell does the computer say it’s noon? And my digital cable box? But the VCR says 11… so does my clock radio… cell phone says noon… FUCK, forgot to turn the clocks ahead!” It doesn’t fuck my schedule up that much but thank God it didn’t fall any other day than Sunday or I woulda been late for work. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-my-semi-annual-clock-changing-rant/166926/42 "2003-04-07T14:26:21Z")
I’m…so…sleepy… (Who knew one hour could mean so much?) ---
**Author:** ![THespos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@THespos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/THespos)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-my-semi-annual-clock-changing-rant/166926/43 "2003-04-07T14:29:35Z")
I dunno. I kinda _like_ DST. It’s like a reminder that warm weather is right around the corner, so I can emerge from my winter hibernation and take the spring/summer clothes out of the space bags under my bed. It also gives me a chance, albeit a slight one, of actually seeing daylight when I leave work. ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-my-semi-annual-clock-changing-rant/166926/44 "2003-04-07T15:54:03Z")
Since I hate Winter so much, it gives me great joy to change my clocks. I especially like changing the VCR which now reads "Summer Time ‘In’ " Hurray!!!🙂 🙂 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-my-semi-annual-clock-changing-rant/166926/45 "2003-04-07T16:09:03Z")
All I have to say is that my five-year-old did _not_ accept the start of DST gracefully this year. As far as he was concerned, Daddy was being mean and waking him up a whole hour early for school. I had to literally carry a kicking, screaming child out of bed and to the car. He did end up voluntarily getting out of the car and go into school, but he still wouldn’t speak to me. :rolleyes: -Christian ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-my-semi-annual-clock-changing-rant/166926/46 "2003-04-07T16:37:49Z")
I still don’t know what fucking time it is and it’s driving me fucking nuts! Some of my clocks change automatically; some don’t. Now I don’t remember which ones I changed and which ones I don’t. Alarm? No. Car? Yes. Wait, maybe. Not sure. GRRRRRRRRRRR :mad: To make matters worse, my VCR changed, but then changed _back_, and then changed forward again! (I think 😕 ) I thought I got to work early. WRONG. Only consolation is that I’m not half-as-confused as my wife every 6 months about this whole business (too bad she’s away now ☹ ) ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-my-semi-annual-clock-changing-rant/166926/47 "2003-04-07T16:47:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Honey \* > **Since I hate Winter so much, it gives me great joy to change my clocks. I especially like changing the VCR which now reads "Summer Time ‘In’ "** If it’s supposed to be Summer Time, why is it **still fricken snowing?** :mad: ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-my-semi-annual-clock-changing-rant/166926/48 "2003-04-07T16:55:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Feynn \* > \*\*Here’s an interesting bit of info: > > If you think that Mondays were already bad enough, the Monday after the time change also has a higher number of vehicular accidents due to people not being awake as they should as they make their morning commute. > \*\* And here’s a [cite](http://www.shpm.com/articles/holidays/daysave.html) to back up **Feynn** ’s statement. > [@](#): > > Psychologist Stanley Coren, Ph.D., from the University of British Columbia reported his research last year in The New England Journal of Medicine showing a seven percent increase in traffic accidents the day after Daylight Savings Time and a seven percent decrease in accidents in the Fall when the clocks return to Standard Time. “We’re all sleep deprived anyway so that extra loss you experience is enough to lead to an accident,” says Dr. Coren. He is now studying the effects of sleep deprivation on the immune system. **Skogcat** , how does DST cause your curtains to fade more? They’re still exposed to the same amount of light for the same amount of time, no matter what the clocks say. ---
**Author:** ![bjohn13](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@bjohn13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bjohn13)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-my-semi-annual-clock-changing-rant/166926/49 "2003-04-07T18:30:18Z")
From what I understand (I actually did a reasearch paper on this once upon a time…I wish I still had the paper), Daylight Saving Time was originally instituted to save energy. The later there was daylight, the less electricity was being used to keep houses lit. A grand idea…let’s do it year around. I love Daylight Saving Time. I love it when it doesn’t get dark until after ten. But the opponents of making Daylight Saving Time the norm year-round say it is an issue of safety. They simply cannot envision a world where people are going to work before light. They simply cannot envision a world where school kids are waiting for the bus before dawn. However, in my state, sunset is at 4:30 during the winter. So, of course, a large number of kids are walking home from school in the dark and a large number of people are driving home from work in the dark. I guess I’d much rather go to work in the dark (when I’m alert) than drive home after dark (when I’m fatigued from a work day and the roads are twice as packed). However, my biggest qualm against the “changing of the clocks” has to do with the item that happens to be my biggest pet peeve in the history of the world. I simply cannot stand alarm clocks. I trained myself to get up without one. Therefore, my internal clock is set to wake up at 6 o’clock every morning. It rarely strays more than 10 minutes or so early or late. That gives me two hours to get ready for work. During the spring, I can usually take the hour change. Getting up at 7 still leaves me an hour, albeit a rushed one. However, during the fall when we set our clocks back, I have to endure getting up at 5 every morning for just about a month before my schedule startes to adjust. Three hourse to kill before work is just too much. By the time it’s time to go to work, I’m ready to take a nap. I once asked my buddy in Mesa, AZ why they don’t set their clocks back. His response? “It’s 110 degrees at ten o’clock. Why the hell would we want it to be 110 degrees at eleven o’clock?” ---
**Author:** ![greck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7ab992/32.png) [@greck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/greck)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-my-semi-annual-clock-changing-rant/166926/50 "2003-04-07T19:35:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by featherlou \* > \*\*I hate changing the clocks. Hate hate hate hate it. I lived very happily for the first 23 years of my life without futzing around with the damned clocks, and never felt like “Gee, I sure wish the clocks were set an hour faster” or slower. It’s stupid, pointless, and in some ways, dangerous, and it’s time that North America woke up and realized that we don’t need to mess with the time twice a year and just left the goldarned clocks alone. > > Thank you. > > See you all in six months. \*\* move to arizona you commie! (not that I really think anything you said actually expressed communist ideation, but it’s a good ignorant guy thing to say) ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-my-semi-annual-clock-changing-rant/166926/51 "2003-04-07T20:14:35Z")
I like DST. I like DST. I should hate to waste an hour of sunlight sleeping. I don’t want to wake up at 3 AM should I wish to observe the dawn on the solstice, for example. When April comes, I appreciate the nice bright kitchen at my parents’ house at dinner time. The winter months are cold and dark enough without having to sleep through an hour of sunlight. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-my-semi-annual-clock-changing-rant/166926/52 "2003-04-07T20:21:09Z")
I like DST. I like DST. I should hate to waste an hour of sunlight sleeping. I don’t want to wake up at 3 AM should I wish to observe the dawn on the solstice, for example. When April comes, I appreciate the nice bright kitchen at my parents’ house at dinner time. The winter months are cold and dark enough without having to sleep through an hour of sunlight. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-my-semi-annual-clock-changing-rant/166926/53 "2003-04-07T21:12:02Z")
Hmm, maybe I should say that I’m okay with DST if we could change the clocks to DST and just LEAVE THEM THE HELL ALONE AFTER THAT. It’s not the DST that I hate, it’s messing around with the clocks. First we set them ahead, then we set them back, then ahead, then back - my poor internal clock gets so confused and I just don’t like it. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to mess with the clocks in Canada anyway. Our winter days are so short, and summer days so long, that the hour more or less doesn’t make a difference anyway. Back to the example of Saskatchewan where they don’t change the clocks - summer days went on forever, and winter days were short and dark at both ends. I haven’t noticed any change in that since moving to Alberta where we _do_ mess around with the clocks, except that when I’m driving east to work and west from work, it’s a huge pain to go through driving into the sun for a couple of weeks, then do it all over again when the clocks are changed. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-my-semi-annual-clock-changing-rant/166926/54 "2003-04-07T22:29:12Z")
But **Featherlou** , if we did that it would be 9:30 in the AM before the sun came up here in January. I would _ **NEVER** _ get to work on time! (My internal clock is pretty dependent on the amount of sunlight - during the summer months I’m up at about 5:00. Winter, no so much. ) ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2003, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-my-semi-annual-clock-changing-rant/166926/55 "2003-04-08T02:02:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dwc1970 \* > \*\* > > **Skogcat** , how does DST cause your curtains to fade more? They’re still exposed to the same amount of light for the same amount of time, no matter what the clocks say. \*\* Because they get an extra hour of sun in the evening! Ok, heres the 🙂 that I probably should have included in my previous post. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-my-semi-annual-clock-changing-rant/166926/56 "2003-04-09T14:01:36Z")
Me, like matt I like having it there be light during the time I am NOT at work. Living at latitude 18N, that’s easy for me year-round with no DST . . . but MAN was it depressing in winter when I lived in the North. To show up at the office in the dark… and leave also in the dark? ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-my-semi-annual-clock-changing-rant/166926/57 "2003-04-09T15:32:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Terminus Est \* > \*\*If it’s supposed to be Summer Time, why is it **still fricken snowing?** :mad: \*\* It sucks, I know. I got up Monday morning to find 12 inches of snow. Arghhhhhhhh. We then got another 6 inches throughout the day Monday. This was capped off by freezing fuckin’ rain Monday night. I hate Winter! I hate Winter! I hate Winter! I hate Winter! I hate Winter! I hate Winter! I hate Winter! I hate Winter! I hate Winter! I hate Winter! I hate Winter! I hate Winter! I hate Winter! I hate Winter! I hate Winter! I hate Winter! I hate Winter! I hate Winter! I hate Winter! I hate Winter! I hate Winter! I hate Winter! :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-my-semi-annual-clock-changing-rant/166926/58 "2003-04-09T16:54:05Z")
It saves massive amounts of energy you morons. Thus staving off global warming, pollution, and your death from breathing the crap that power generators spew into the air. It helps save the world, the environment, and even your worthless lazy ass. So- quit bitchin, stop spreading disinofrmation, and get with the program. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-my-semi-annual-clock-changing-rant/166926.md?page=2)