DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME

It happens every spring: crocuses, baseball (with any luck),
and the switch to Daylight Savings Time (DST).

Coming off DST is not hard. In the Fall, we set our clocks
back one hour. We all get an extra hour to sleep, and those
who forget find themselves at church, or the airport, or
wherever an hour early. Embarassing, but not catastrophic.

But in the Spring we set the clocks forward, and the trouble
begins. We lose an hour of sleep. Forgetful people miss
Mass, planes, breakfast, and the big game on TV. Some are
thrown into disarray for up to a full week. Annual losses
due to DST confusion have been estimated (by me) at over a
million dollars. I myself have missed a flight to Washington
and a showing of The Seven Samurai because of DST.

There is no need for such tragic waste. We can -- we should
and must -- urge our lawmakers to reform Daylight Savings
Time as follows:

Setting clocks back is easy; setting them forward is
difficult. Therefore, let us keep the fall ritual as it is.
However, one Sunday each Spring, let us set our clocks not
one hour forward, but TWENTY-THREE HOURS BACKWARD.

Think of all the advantages. We will not lose an hour of
sleep; we will gain (almost) a day of rest. It will be
Saturday all over again. You will never again miss
Confession, or an airplane, or the Redskins game.

Naturally, if this were the whole plan, our calendars would
fall behind one day in each year. However, the second part
of the Revised DST Plan deals with this. Every four years,
instead of adding a day, let us SUBTRACT THREE DAYS.
Furthermore, let these be Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday,
which according to recent polls are the least popular days.

If done in February, which seems reasonable considering what
a miserable month it is, this would have the beneficial side
effect of shortening the excruciating presidential primary
season by an effective four days.

The advantages of this plan are clear. Let us waste no time.
With a determined effort we can have Reformed Daylight
Savings Time by Spring of next year.

Write your congressperson today!


[essay by]
[Richard S. Holmes]