Time After Time

Fall back, spring forward. I mean, what? Personally I think daylight savings time is a pretty pointless ritual, relevant only to those who enjoy mind games and living in near perpetual darkness. I remember learning the gist of it in seventh grade social studies class but the reason has since been forgotten. Something about farmers, I think. Because that makes sense. Corn really cares what time of the day it gets picked.

Early evening classes with daylight savings time are the worst. I go into a lecture when it’s still daylight out. After the lecture, which most times already seems like it went on for a month and a half anyway, I leave the building and step into complete darkness. There went the rest of my day. Only thing to do now is homework… okay, so maybe not. But class is not exactly my ideal way to finish out the day. I mean, I could be watching the daylight savings sunset- or, a movie. Whatever.

My mom did call me though, to remind me to set my clock back. About 3 days later. As if I wouldn’t have realized it by then. I’m used to being late for stuff, but I think I’d sense a pattern if I was repeatedly exactly one hour late for everything. I’m bright like that.

My mom told me I should have ‘saved the hour’ until the next morning. So I could wake up and then be relieved because I didn’t really have to get up… “Aw man, I have to get up and shower… no, wait! I can sleep for another hour! Oh, thank you daylight savings time!” Please. I’m never that coherent on any morning. Most mornings the numbers on my digital clock confuse me.

I don’t even know why my mom remembered that most of the world has daylight savings time. You see, she’s in central Indiana, which, I learned, seceded from the whole daylight savings time club. How is that allowed? Do they allow half memberships? I enjoy the whole ‘gaining an hour’ thing, but I’m not so keen on losing it again in the spring. Can we just do that first part? Every year we’ll fall farther and farther behind the rest of society. About a quarter of a century and they’ll lap us. But that’s okay. Daylight savings time is not a race. I don’t think. I don’t know, I just know it has something to do with farmers. Maybe it’s like a tractor pull. I don’t really understand the point of those, either.