OT: Daylight Saving Time = good! Standard Time = evil!

We should stay on Daylight Saving Time all year long!

Darryl...

DST is valuable because when you get someone talking about it, you can
quickly determine who can actually grapple mentally with an abstract
concept, & who can't.

Whether they have arguments for or against it, the logic behind most of
their rationalizations make you want to roll on the floor laughing.

Obveeus...

Speaking of which...this thread started on April Fool's Day...and I had no
idea that it was originally meant to be a serious thread.

What einstein wants to trade an extra hour of daylight in the evening--AFTER
school and work for most people--for an extra hour of daylight in the
morning? I'd rather have the extra hour of daylight on "my" time instead of

Steven L....

During the energy crisis of the 1970's, we experimented with year-round
DST one year (I think it was either 1973 or 1974). The result was that
during the wintertime in the northern U.S. when the nights are long,
schoolkids were having to go to school in the dark before sunrise. That
was actually risky because of the heavy rush-hour traffic at that hour,
which is why it proved unpopular and was abandoned.

With the current system, school takes place entirely in daylight in most
of the U.S. The only time large numbers of kids are walking around the
streets in the dark is Halloween trick-o-treat, and they always issue
warnings to motorists to be extra careful that evening.

Obveeus...

I think you are being really shortsaighted.

If people don't save an hour of extra daylight from each day during the
summer months, what will they use for daylight in the witer when the sun
would only normally come up for a few hours per day? You have to be willing
to do some saving now if you want to have anything in the future...it is
really no different than saving for retirement, except that you have to do
it each year to save for the coming winter. Maybe it was easier for people
to understand back in the old days before electricity and fully stocked
grocery stores, but the principle remains the same.

Ken from Chicago...

No, it's worse in winter. Under ST the sun sets around 4:30pm so by the time
you get off work at 5pm, it's pitch black. If it were DST year round, the
sun would set at 5:30pm, giving you an hour's drive of daylight. Most people
would be either at home or significantly thru the bottlenecks of the
congested major highways and more likely on the smaller roads leading to
their respective homes.

Steven L....

You forgot about schoolchildren, who have to leave home for school
around 7:00 AM.

Now Canada and the U.S. are extending DST a bit starting in 2007:
Starting in 2007, Daylight Savings Time will run from the 2nd Sunday in
March thru the first Sunday of November. This means that there will be
a few weeks in the northern U.S. and Canada when schoolkids may need to
go to school in the dark.

suzee...

Should be light by the second week in March. I lived very far north for
over 20 years and by the first of March, it was getting light about 6
am. Might be alright the first week of November too.

worrying about having to get to work. Plus it would mean for those of
working 9-5 (or 8-5 in the Midwest), we drive home in DAYLIGHT when traffic
is significantly better.

And if it's a problem for farmers or schoolkids, then change THEIR schedule
an hour, but leave the rest of us alone!

WHO'S WITH ME?!!