This past weekend, the clocks moved ahead for Daylight Saving Time in about one-third of the world, and right on cue, the annual chorus began. People complain about losing an hour of sleep. They complain that it messes with their body clock. They wonder aloud why we still bother with this system in the first place.
Then, six months later, when the clocks go back the other way, the complaints start all over again. Only this time they’re about how early it gets dark in the evening and how depressing it feels when night arrives before dinner.
Which leads to a fairly simple conclusion: no matter what decision is made about the clocks, someone will be unhappy with it.
If we keep changing the clocks twice a year, people complain. If we stop changing them, people complain. If governments choose permanent daylight saving time, critics will point to the darker winter mornings. If they stick with permanent standard time, others will argue we’re losing those beautiful long summer evenings.
At some point you realize the clock debate isn’t really about the clocks at all. It’s about people.
For most of human history, time was simple. People worked when the sun rose and stopped when it set. Modern life changed that.
Factories, railroads, broadcast schedules, and school systems all needed people to operate on the same timetable. That’s why standardized time zones were created in the nineteenth century. Later, daylight saving time was introduced as a way to make better use of the longer daylight hours during the spring and summer months.
The concept itself is fairly straightforward: shift the clock so more daylight falls in the evening, when people are more likely to use it. In theory, it made sense. In practice, it created one of society’s most reliable seasonal debates.
I’ve always liked the longer evenings that arrive once the clocks move ahead.
After months of winter afternoons that seem to dissolve into darkness by late afternoon, the return of daylight in the evening feels like someone has opened a window. I have more energy and feel better. Suddenly, the day feels bigger. People stay outside longer. Parks fill up again. Golf courses get busier. Restaurants start putting chairs back on patios. For those of us in more northerly locations, it is a huge relief. Whew! Made it through another winter.
You finish work and realize you still have time to go for a walk, sit by the water, or simply enjoy the evening light. It’s a small change on the clock, but it often feels like a big change in mood.
Still, even with those benefits, the complaints arrive every year right on schedule.
Things could get even stranger if different states and provinces start choosing their own systems, which one just did and some are considering. British Columbia, Canada, just went to permanent Daylight Saving Time.
However, imagine a stretch of highway in the American Midwest where Missouri decides to remain on standard time year-round, neighboring Kansas adopts permanent daylight saving time, and Colorado continues switching clocks twice a year as it always has. In theory, you could drive west and watch the time jump forward, backward, and sideways depending on which border you crossed. A lunch meeting scheduled for noon in one state might be 11 a.m. just across the line and 1 p.m. in the next. Airlines, broadcasters, truckers, and anyone scheduling meetings across state lines would suddenly have a much more complicated calendar.
At that point, the real problem wouldn’t be daylight saving time. It would be remembering what time it actually is.
The reality is that every possible system has tradeoffs. Some people prefer brighter mornings. Others value longer evenings. What feels ideal for one group feels inconvenient for another.
That’s why the debate keeps returning year after year. Despite all the complaints, something interesting usually happens once the clocks move ahead in the spring. Within a week or two, most people settle into the new rhythm without thinking about it very much.
They go for evening walks and sit outside longer. They linger on patios. The clocks change and life adjusts. And before long everyone gets used to it. Until the next time we change the clocks again.
And when that happens, one thing is guaranteed: right on schedule, someone somewhere will start complaining about it.
johnberkovich.com 