Caseyland

Here’s a very nicely-put article on why we should get rid of daylight saving and adopt a single time for around the world.

I don’t have time to write such an article, but have you ever wondered why, as fall begins — just as it seems to be getting darker earlier and earlier each night, that all of a sudden, “Daylight Saving Time” ends, and we have to move our clocks and make it even worse? That’s right, just last week, I could stay till 6:30ish before walking home in the dark.  Now, I’ll get mugged at 5:30.  (You should see where I work).  Daylight Saving is an attempt to adjust our waking hours to work with the fluctuating amount of daylight.  But it has some major flaws (like the one I just mentioned), and doesn’t really solve the problem it was intended to fix.

Also, what’s the point of time zones?  Do we really need to all wake up at 7AM (*our time*) with the sun coming up, or couldn’t we just get used to the notion that I wake up to go to work at, say, 2:00, but someone in China wakes up at 14:00?  Wouldn’t it be nicer when, on a conference call, you could say “so, our next meeting will be at 8 on Thursday” and everyone would know what you mean (and not ask “you mean 8 my time, or your time?  I’m in Phoenix, where who knows what time it’s going to be.”)?  It’s an arbitrary construct designed to (I guess) make sure everyone eats lunch at noon (ok, not quite, but that’s not far off).

As the author of the really good article notes, it has the (unintended?) consequence of making “I’ll call you back at 5” ambiguous.  And as the author also points out, “The problem of knowing the other party’s day/night cycle remains, even in a world without time zones, but is made no worse by their removal.”  You still have to say “how about 5?”, and wonder whether or not that person was planning to be sleeping at that time, but at least you both know what 5 means.  I have that same problem with people I work with — and I’m in the same time zone as they are.  See, I’m on the 11-7 shift at work, and some people are on the 7-3 shift.  If someone schedules a meeting at 8AM, I have to explain to them that hey, I’m still in bed at that time.

After all, the whole country of China uses just one time zone, and they’re doing all right.