# Time to change the clocks **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 26, 2014, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-change-the-clocks/702540 "2014-10-26T04:02:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-change-the-clocks/702540/21 "2014-10-27T00:53:51Z")
if you keep your clocks on UTC like god intended then you would have no problems. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-change-the-clocks/702540/22 "2014-10-27T01:19:18Z")
Like most countries near the tropics, Thailand doesn’t need Daylight Savings transitions for the usual reason. However, former Prime Minister Toxin (P.M. Lucky Girl’s brother) once proposed that the country shift by an hour permanently. Reason? Thailand’s stock market was in the doldrums because of all the Singapore and Hong Kong traders who, unwilling to wait the extra hour for Thailand’s stock exchange to open, bought shares instead in the Southeast Asian markets in the earlier time-zone. :dubious: Why not just open the stock exchange earlier and leave the clocks alone? In Toxin’s opinion, forcing schoolkids all across the country to wait for their schoolbuses in the dark was preferable to making Bangkok’s elite travel (in chauffeured limousines) to their brokerages during rush hour. (Toxin, who founded the political party “Thais who love Thais so very very big”, is most famous as P.M. for waiving capital-gains tax when his family sold their telecom conglomerate to Singapore. His sister, not to be outdone, is famous for her attempt to corner the world rice market – a plan that left rice farmers defrauded while rice rots in giant warehouses. Toxin is now a criminal fugitive living in Dubai. He has a PhD in … wait for it … criminology. Not to worry: U.S. insistence on “purple-finger democracy” wll probably give this family another chance to occupy Government House and do zany things!) ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-change-the-clocks/702540/23 "2014-10-27T02:13:57Z")
During most winter months (late November through around February or March) I go to work in the dark and come home in the dark, no matter whether it’s regular or savings time. I’m a fucking mushroom. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-change-the-clocks/702540/24 "2014-10-27T12:18:07Z")
> [@Pai325](#): > > Yes, we do ours next week in the US. I wish they would pick one and stick with it. Either it will be dark in the morning or it will be dark in the early evening. I don’t care, just pick one. > > I used to live in Indiana when they didn’t change the clocks, and it was nice. I think Arizona doesn’t mess with their clocks. I should move there. I live in a state where they do change the clocks, and the expense of buying new ones every six months was killing me. Then I realized, all I have to do was keep the ones I bought a year ago and set those out instead. Problem solved! So, there. Ignorance fought. No need to thank me; spreading the knowledge around is reward enough. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-change-the-clocks/702540/25 "2014-10-27T12:44:19Z")
I’m looking forward to my gf’s car clock being correct again. She never changes it and I’ve screwed up a few times due to it displaying the wrong time. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-change-the-clocks/702540/26 "2014-10-27T14:00:44Z")
> [@Pai325](#): > > Yes, we do ours next week in the US. I wish they would pick one and stick with it. Either it will be dark in the morning or it will be dark in the early evening. I don’t care, just pick one. > > I used to live in Indiana when they didn’t change the clocks, and it was nice. I think Arizona doesn’t mess with their clocks. I should move there. I agree. I have a semi-annual “standard, daylight, split the difference, pick something else altogether, I don’t care, just pick something and STICK WITH IT!!!” rant. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-change-the-clocks/702540/27 "2014-10-27T15:26:33Z")
This is the one time of year I agree with Saskatchewan. They don’t change their clocks in the Spring and don’t seem to be the worse for it (except for living in Saskatchewan. I keed, I keed). ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-change-the-clocks/702540/28 "2014-10-27T15:33:12Z")
[Modest proposal]I think we should adjust our clocks ahead ten minutes at the end of each month for six months, and then back again ten minutes for the next six months. Forget and you’ll only be late/early by ten minutes.[/modest proposal] ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-change-the-clocks/702540/29 "2014-10-27T20:43:48Z")
Why can’t we leave the clocks alone, and adjust the scheduled times of things that depend on sunlight? If kids shouldn’t walk to their bus sts in the dark, schedule the busses accordingly. Let that vary with latitude and longitude, and any other local issues. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-change-the-clocks/702540/30 "2014-10-27T23:50:39Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > For the 100th time, kids getting on school buses!!! That’ll make it harder for the child molesters to find them. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-change-the-clocks/702540/31 "2014-10-27T23:57:18Z")
That “But the kids! School buses!” thing doesn’t really hold water any more. Where are kids still allowed to walk to the bus stop? In this area, the few school-age kids get picked up at their house, and in our previous neighborhood, they couldn’t be trusted to walk from one end of a cul-de-sac to another, so the streets would get clogged up with cars as Mom or Dad would drive the kids to the corner. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-change-the-clocks/702540/32 "2014-10-28T00:05:24Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > …Where are kids still allowed to walk to the bus stop? I… Here. Rural Ottawa. Canada. Also, kids in the city who don’t take the school bus have to take a city bus, and that doesn’t stop at each door, but at least there are street lights in the city. ETA: Honest to God people, it’s one hour, twice a year. Deal with it. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-change-the-clocks/702540/33 "2014-10-28T00:07:09Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > For the 100th time, kids getting on school buses!!! Where I live, it’s dark when they get on the bus before we change the clocks, and dark when some of them get home after we change the clocks. So why does it really matter which one it is? Why not pick one and live with it? ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-change-the-clocks/702540/34 "2014-10-28T01:23:03Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > Why can’t we leave the clocks alone, and adjust the scheduled times of things that depend on sunlight? …These go to eleven. ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-change-the-clocks/702540/35 "2014-10-28T17:42:02Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Here. Rural Ottawa. Canada. Also, kids in the city who don’t take the school bus have to take a city bus, and that doesn’t stop at each door, but at least there are street lights in the city. > > ETA: Honest to God people, it’s one hour, twice a year. Deal with it. No. I’m tired of putting up with stupid shit like this when there is no justifiable reason for it, and many good reasons not to. Just because we’ve always done it this way is bullshit. The same goes for QWERTY keyboards , too. ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-change-the-clocks/702540/36 "2014-10-29T09:46:26Z")
> [@Norse](#): > > At really high latitudes, DST doesn’t make a shred of a difference. It’s just a minor annoyance to have to adjust the clocks twice a year, 'cause in the summer it’s bright light whenever you get up in the morning and whenever you go to bed, and in the winter it’s fucking dark until you’ve had your third cup of coffee and your second meeting of the day and it gets dark again several hours before you’re heading home. Word. In winter it’s basically dark apart from a bit either side of lunchtime, in summer it’s never more than a bit dim so it’s completely pointless. But even in e.g. London civil dawn/twilight runs from ~0700 to ~1820 by the end of november so all it DST really does is exchange a dark journey to work and a lit journey home for the other way round, which I really don’t see as all that big a benefit. A cold shower and/or coffee will wake you up in the morning but there are no good solutions for being tired after a long day when it’s dark. However, even though DST is an annoyance, it would be a very minor one if only everybody would get with the program and do it ON THE SAME DAMN DATE. So noogies to the US and Australia for doing it on stupid dates and extra noogies to Arizona for not doing it at all and therefore making life even more annoying. P.s - wedgies to all those places that absolutely MUST have half-hour offsets like India and Central australia. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-change-the-clocks/702540/37 "2014-10-29T11:44:18Z")
> [@slaphead](#): > > P.s - wedgies to all those places that absolutely MUST have half-hour offsets like India and Central australia. What about places that have 15/45 minute offsets? ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-change-the-clocks/702540/38 "2014-10-29T23:28:51Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Well fuck. Here we go again with the annual “don’t change the clocks!” thread. Mostly written by people who live nearer the equator and don’t get that it makes a huge difference to people in different latitudes. Here in Ottawa, it’s rather nice to arrive at work when the sun is above the horizon. Without daylight saving time kids would be going to school in complete blackness. Not really a good idea from a safety perspective. Give it some thought this year before bitching, please. Do you want your kids being out until the sun rises at 8:40 AM? Of course not. I love daylight savings time, but I think you have that backwards. Daylight savings time takes light from the morning and gives it to the evening. It’s going off daylight savings back to standard time that makes the sun rise earlier. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-change-the-clocks/702540/39 "2014-10-29T23:38:26Z")
> [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > I love daylight savings time, but I think you have that backwards. Daylight savings time takes light from the morning and gives it to the evening. It’s going off daylight savings back to standard time that makes the sun rise earlier. Yeah, I realized that after a bit. I like getting 9 holes of golf in after work in the summer. I can’t understand how a one hour shift twice a year matters to anyone in the least. Hell, most clocks set themselves these days too. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-change-the-clocks/702540/40 "2014-10-29T23:45:37Z")
Yep. I once lived in the upper latitudes in a place that didn’t observe the time change. Try waking up at 3:00am to take a leak, with dawn clearly breaking, and not being able to fall asleep. Jesus that sucked. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-change-the-clocks/702540.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-change-the-clocks/702540.md?page=3)