DST Is Just DUM

Spring ahead, to join DST, is not my favorite time of year. Fall back, to return to Standard Time, is ok, but only because it corrects this monumental error. I am not a fan of this “let’s change the clocks and figure out a reason later” business. And the reasons certainly do change, depending on who’s the latest to make one up.

Farmers, children waiting at bus stops, energy use, farm children at bus stops using energy, whatever. If He Who Is wanted time to change, Him What Am would speed up the sun at one point and slow it down at another just to make us happy. Except for parts of Indiana, where miracles happen and the time does not change.

China makes it easier: Everybody is on Beijing time. Used to be they were on Peking time, but that stopped when people started calling it Beijing. The whole country (by my ruler, Philly to Alaska) on the same time zone. “GMC” (“Good Morning China”) would be seen at 3:00am, with “Tonight! With Chairman Mao” at 7:30pm. Or so.

I worked at a radio station years ago where we stayed on EST. The county to our west was on CST or CDT, depending on the season. The state just three miles to the north was on EST or EDT, seasonally. When I made program announcements (this was a classical station), I had to shape them for each time zone.

When I lived on a farm in Vermont, the cows didn’t give a rat’s @ about what the clocks said. They wanted to be milked at 4:30 regular time and we better be there.