Worst Parts of Daylight Savings Time – Spring Forward TONIGHT (2AM Sunday)

Daylight Savings Time is supposed to be beneficial.  Really?

  The origins for Daylight Savings Time (DST) trace back to ancient times, when the Romans and other civilizations often adjusted their calendars and clocks to take advantage of sunlight in warmer seasons, such and spring and summer.

It was first adopted on a widespread scale in England in 1905 when William Willet came up with the idea of adjusting clocks to take advantage of increased sunlight.  It was especially aimed towards agricultural and other outside workers who depended upon the sun.

In the U.S. it was adopted during World War I, and became widespread and legally adopted after that.  Between World War II and 1966, it caused massive confusion because states were allowed to choose when they wanted to implement it, and it threw off train, bus and airline travel schedules.   It's been tinkered with by Congress in attempts to save energy by extending it so we theoretically use less electric lights.

But while we welcome the extra hour of snooze in the fall, in the spring it's different.  So we present the most annoying parts of Springing Forward:

• For many, the biggest is losing sleep.
• Having to reset all the clocks in the house.   Good thing your smartphone does it's own thing, but how many times have you stumbled out of bed and realized you're late?
• Forget to set the clocks ahead?  That's often why church attendance drops as much as 20% the Sunday after DST!
• If you have trouble sleeping when light creeps through the windows at dawn, this won't help.   An hour later means more Mr. Sunshine through the blinds.
• How many of us have blown a mental gasket trying to reprogram the clock on our car or truck stereo?   I've driven around for weeks with the wrong time, just because I didn't want to waste time trying to thumb through the manual of my Dodge Ram.

But once we get it over with, we adjust.  And it is nice to have a little more time in the evenings to enjoy daylight.  But for this weekend,  it's a great big UGH!