Timely Saving Daylight

 Here in America, Daylight Savings Time has ended (or started, I'm not entirely sure which). Everywhere, with the exception of Indiana (I think it's Indiana), we turned our clocks back one hour. Meanwhile, the rest of the world just watches in mild confusion.

To be fair, the idea made sense at the time. Daylight Savings Time was proposed by Benjamin Franklin as a way of saving lamp oil. When it was first implemented, it was a valid course of action. Fast forward 200+ years, and we ask ourselves why are we doing this?

I remember a short story about this kind of thing: a young girl observed that her mother would always tie the legs of a chicken together before cooking it. When the girl asked about it, her mother just said that that was how her mother always did it. When the girl asked her grandmother about it, she got the same answer, that was how HER mother always did it. When the girl asked her great-grandmother about it, her great-grandmother explained that she had to; tying the chicken's legs together was the only way to get the chicken to fit inside the cooking pot.

We do things, and they make sense at the time. However, as time passes and customs change and technology advances, they stop making as much sense. Or any sense at all. Lamp oil is not a concern for the average citizen anymore; if you want light, flip a light switch. The work does not stop because the sun has set. I can testify to that personally: I work 2nd Shift, and don't get off from work until 1:15 AM! New York City is called "The City That Never Sleeps". Nighttime is a busy time. Maybe not as busy as daytime, but still busy.

Do we even NEED Daylight Savings Time anymore? I would say no. Should we just get rid of it? I would say probably. There is a problem, however. What time frame is to be accepted as standard? When the clocks have been turned back an hour, or when they have been turned forward? Unless and until we can settle that debate, we will be stuck adjusting our clocks for no good reason.