Time Change

 

    It is just me or does it seem that every year (or perhaps every half year) people go through the same debate: should we continue the one-hour adjustment of time twice a year or not?

     This has been going on for almost as long as Daylight Savings Time has been in existence or has it?  Benjamin Franklin actually proposed a form of daylight time in 1784 observing that people could save on candles by getting out of bed earlier in the morning, making use of the natural morning light.

     However, it wasn’t until 1918 that the United States confirmed the existing standard time zone system and set summer daylight savings time on March 31, 1918.  The idea was unpopular, especially with farmers, and not much has much changed over that debate since that time.  Most people continue to argue for or against the change even to this day.  Many have proposed a compromise in that, at some specified point, the time should change ONE HALF hour in one direction or the other and then leave it there permanently.  And there are many other suggested ideas that people have considered.

     For many the problem stems from the fact that people want to make comparisons within their minds.  Let’s say you take a flight from a state in the center of American, such as Lincoln, Nebraska to Honolulu, Hawaii.  Now there is a major time change.  Most people understand and refer to their adjustment problem as “jet lag.”  However, the problem often is that a person will almost refuse to live in the time zone they are in!  What do I mean?  The person gets to Hawaii and starts his or her activities and will constantly tell themselves (and perhaps others) “Well, you know in Lincoln the time is ___!”  And so they never really let themselves mentally adjust to the current time where they are.

     Part of this problems is also due to the fact that they like to phone relatives and friends back home and remind them that they are enjoying the beach and having such a good time, but to do this, they must remember to adjust the time of their call to the time it is back home!  Just another constant reminder to themselves that they have changed zones as far as time is concerned.

     Wouldn’t it just be much simpler if you could just get up in the morning when your body told you it was time to get out of bed and then go to sleep when your body told you “I need rest?”  We all understand that in today’s busy society being able to do such a thing would be limited to a very few.  Having to deal with so many external situations doesn’t always bring an easier life-style into our lives.  Just one more thing we have to complain about.  Then again, we’re only human!

QUOTE TO CONSIDER

THOUGHTFUL GEM

"If but a moment in time could change the future,

when would you choose it to be?"