Contributor to the Indy Star, Shari Rudavsky weighed in on Daylight Savings Time. No matter your opinion, we awoke in the dark, but enjoyed the light at dinner time. If Daylight Savings Time is here, can Spring be far behind? Chrissie
Americans, it seems, can be divided into two types of people: Those who hate Daylight Saving Time and those who love it. This weekend, the lovers get their way when the clock springs forward at 2 a.m. Sunday, where it will stay until Nov. 2 at 2 a.m. when the haters can start smiling again.
Americans, it seems, can be divided into two types of people: Those who hate Daylight Saving Time and those who love it. This weekend, the lovers get their way when the clock springs forward at 2 a.m. Sunday, where it will stay until Nov. 2 at 2 a.m. when the haters can start smiling again.
With three days of Daylight Saving Time under our belts – or pillows -- here are five things we love about it and five things we hate. Not surprisingly, some of them overlap.
WHAT WE LOVE
Opportunity to go for a bike ride/walk/run/swim outdoors after work. Most of us work day shifts. If you leave work at 5 p.m., you still have four-plus hours to enjoy outdoor activities in daylight. It's almost like having another half day of the weekend.
Being in sync with the East Coast. Business associates, friends and family don't get completely flummoxed about what time it is in your life, because it's always the same time as it is in their lives.
Late-night sunsets. By June 23, thanks to the fact Indiana sits on the western edge of the Eastern Time Zone, the sun does not set until 9:17 p.m. It's almost like living in Scandinavia.
Safer roads? Daylight Saving Time may make the roads safer for drivers. A 2010 study by University of Minnesota researchers found the number of crashes during the DST declines. They hypothesize that DST reduces the number of crashes by improving overall visibility for drivers.
On a related note, the jury is out on whether it reduces electricity costs. That's been the conventional wisdom, but a study conducted two years after Indiana adopted DST found the average cost of electricity – factoring in fans and air conditioning as well as lighting – increased slightly.
A rite of spring. Switching the clock is a clear sign that spring has arrived – even if the weather is not cooperating. So even if it snows again, we can do something to mark the arrival of a new season. Besides, how else would remember it's time to check our smoke alarm batteries?
WHAT WE HATE
Lack of consistency throughout the year. We had it pretty good before Daylight Saving Time entered the picture. Unlike the rest of the country, we realized there's something nice about not hassling over a small but nagging shift in time twice a year. Besides, gaining an hour of sleep never feels good enough to compensate for how rotten losing that hour feels.
Putting kids to bed when it's light out. Try convincing your toddler that it's bedtime, when he or she can see the evening sun streaming through the window. Turning out the light is a key part of going to sleep, as any bedtime book will tell you. Pulling down the blackout shades just isn't the same thing.
Yaaawwwn. Can't get to sleep, can't wake up. The first week or so of insomnia, as your body tries to adjust to going to bed an hour earlier but just can't. Instead, you lie there, thinking about how you're going to have to wake up at a time that your internal body clock considers to be an hour earlier than usual.
Dark mornings. Early risers miss the sun when it comes up an hour later and would gladly sacrifice the evening light for illumination as the day begins. By the end of October, right before we fall back, sunrise will not occur until 8:14 a.m.
We were quirky and now we're... Indiana's refusal to adopt Daylight Saving Time set us apart. It even had a cameo role in an episode of the "West Wing." But we haven't completely shaken our reputation. People on the East Coast still frequently ask, "Wait, what time is it there?" or "Are you on Central?"
But whether we should be on Eastern or Central time is a whole other debate.
Call Star reporter Shari Rudavsky at (317) 444-6354. Follow her on Twitter @srudavsky.
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