seize the daylight!

so here we are at that biannual time where we change the time with our own hands. spring forward, fall back. gaining an hour or losing an hour. this is when daylight saving time occurs.

growing up in indiana, the idea of changing our clocks each spring and fall was a foreign concept for me. i was only familiar with my favorite shows switching times at the beginning of the new fall season. it wasn't until i met people in college who thought our state's tradition was somewhat ridiculous. the northwest corner of the state and the south east corner of the state were already switching their clocks with nearby cities. it took until 2005 for a law to be passed for the entire state, and many directives for the states' citizens, to join the clock-turning in april, 2006.

after college, i can remember looking forward to that first fall dst night in north carolina. i stayed up until 2am to watch the digital clock on the cable box switch from 1:59 to 1:00. yes, it seems absurd, but it was an exciting first for me.

now, our daylight saving time is extended, thanks to our fearless leader and his energy policy act of 2005. we now spring forward a week earlier and fall back a week later. this is in an effort to save energy and millions of dollars. we'll see what the actual outcome of this is once a report of the study is given by the secretary of energy. *rolls eyes*

although we often hear "daylight savings time" discussed in the media, it is actually called daylight saving time (no s). and even more inaccurately, we are not actually saving time, yet merely shifting the time. most other countries of the world simply refer to it as "summer time".

living in chicago, at the beginning of the central time zone, we experience a lack of daylight, especially in the midst of winter. we find darkness approaching around 4pm. by 7pm, you're ready to settle in bed for the night. for those of us that suffer from self-diagnosed SAD, the winter months are long and tiresome, especially with dst seemingly working against you!

as can be expected, dst has caused much confusion, especially in its earlier days. railways, airlines, and buses have all experienced confusion, especially its passengers. in fact, amtrak must remain consistent with their published timetables that trains will actually sit on the track for an hour to remain on time getting to their destinations.

other odd dst anecdotes:

While twins born at 11:55 p.m. and 12:05 a.m. may have different birthdays, Daylight Saving Time can change birth order -- on paper, anyway. During the time change in the fall, one baby could be born at 1:55 a.m. and the sibling born ten minutes later, at 1:05 a.m. In the spring, there is a gap when no babies are born at all: from 2:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m.

A man, born just after 12:00 a.m. DST, circumvented the Vietnam War draft by using a daylight saving time loophole. When drafted, he argued that standard time, not DST, was the official time for recording births in his state of Delaware in the year of his birth. Thus, under official standard time he was actually born on the previous day—and that day had a much higher draft lottery number, allowing him to avoid the draft.

Patrons of bars that stay open past 2:00 a.m. lose one hour of drinking time on the day when Daylight Saving Time springs forward one hour. This has led to annual problems in numerous locations, and sometimes even to riots. For example, at a "time disturbance" in Athens, Ohio, site of Ohio University, over 1,000 students and other late night partiers chanted "Freedom," as they threw liquor bottles at the police attempting to control the riot.

for all of this information and more, visit this site.

note from author: while i'm looking forward to my extra hour of sleep tonight, i apologize for the lack of wittiness of this post. it was supposed to be light and humorous, instead it is dull and boring.