Why Daylight Savings @Solsticepublish

It’s Daylight Savings Time again.  Once again that time of year has come about when everyone sets their clocks forward one hour in order to have longer days.  It is observed by Europe and most of North America.  It is not observed in Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Arizona in the United States and the Province of Saskatchewan in Canada.   Why do we do this?  Those areas seem to get along fine without it.  The common answer I hear is that we are somehow benefiting the farmers.  The farmers I talk to, however, tell me it is more of a hindrance.  They explain that most farmers are used to getting up at a certain time (Usually at dawn) and going about their business.  The “extra hour of sunlight” we gain in the evening is really just stolen from the morning.  As a result, farmers are actually impeded to a certain degree by this blessing.  Another common misconception is that Benjamin Franklin came up with the idea.  Ancient Romans were adjusting water clocks long before Ben was around.  He did write an anonymous letter when in Paris suggesting that Parisians wake earlier in the day to use more sunlight and preserve candles.  That’s about as far as his part in this goes.  Time was not even standardized until the 1800s when the railway necessitated a regular time setting in order to track arrivals and departures.  Though several people suggested one way of advancing the clock or another, the practice was not adopted until 1916 by Germany and Austria-Hungary to curb the use of coal during war time.  Britain and many other countries soon did the same and the United States jumped on board in 1918.  Not long after the war we did away with it and brought it back periodically over time.  It did not really stay until the 1970s when an energy crisis caused a desire to use less electric light.  We have used it ever since.  Maybe I’m just missing that hour of sleep I didn’t get last night, but how is this beneficial?  Traditionally retail and tourism have benefited the most from the change.  Later hours mean more business as consumers are more likely to shop late than early.  That’s all well and good but is the change really necessary?  At Christmas time I never seem to have a problem going to the store when it is dark out.  I admit that travel is easier in sunlight but many travelers leave early in the morning already.  The days are already growing in length as we move toward the Summer Solstice.  Why do we keep doing this?  I said it already.  The reason is tourism.  That, in turn, means money.  More light in the evenings leads vacationers to spend more time using their money before bed.  That’s the secret answer.  It’s all just another way to get more money.  The rest of us are just along for the ride on this one.  So when you’re waiting extra-long for that fireworks display to start because it isn’t dark yet, remember someone out there is getting a few more sales.