It is the year 2025, and we are still changing our clocks twice a year. This sucks.
If you are reading this post on the morning of November 2, you may be a little confused, disoriented, and something feels off. At least it is a Sunday though, so you can get your chores done, watch some football at an hour that just seems a little off, and then go to bed. It will definitely hit you on Monday when the work week starts.
Now there are some people who will say, “Wait! You are getting an extra hour of sleep!” Well, no. Our bodies tell us so, we just decide abitrarily to do normal things at a different hour than normal. And of course, what you get in Autumn (that supposed hour), you have taken away in Spring (that supposed hour).
So I will say, even though we are “falling back,” the change still sucks.
I am not a definite proponent of Daylight Savings vs Standard Time. I will take either one, actually. Just pick one. Don’t make us do this. It is at best uncomfortable, and at worst, actually makes us worse at the things we do every day. I won’t cite statistics or studies, because you already know.
Those good people in Arizona and Hawaii understand.
As things stand, the majority of the United States is on Daylight Savings Time 65% of the year, so there is a better chance of switching to that time year-round. It almost happened. California passed a proposition to do this, and awaited action from Congress, who even passed their Act in the Senate by unanimous consent, and then no action was taken. Sooooo close.
Daylight Savings year-round did happen in the 1970s. It was not popular at the time. The increasing amount of early morning hours in the dark was considered a problem – especially as it pertains to children attending school. This is perfectly understandable. Of course, humans have been adjusting their schedules for thousands of years, particularly when agriculture was invented. There are ways to support this without making the entire country change the clock.
Will this madness end? Probably not. There will be plenty of copy written about it on Sunday and Monday, and then we will move on to other things, until that awful early morning in March 2026 when we have to wake up too early.
T.M. Schultze is a San Diego-based photographer, traveller, and writer. He writes, photographs, and draws things of the outdoors that have inspired humans for thousands of years. He co-authored the Photographer’s Guide to Joshua Tree Park which can be purchased here.
Here in BC, we stupidly said we’d wait for Washington/Oregon/California to eliminate the time change even after we voted for it. The Yukon, wisely, said screw this years ago and I think they are on DST all year long now.
I’ve never quite understood the concern over darkness while going to work or school when you could have more light after work or school. Enjoy those later than 9pm summer nights? I do too. My elementary and secondary schools had the earliest start times in the district. I went to school in the dark a lot. We only lost 3-4 kids a week so I don’t see a concern if a time change creates these light conditions in the morning again.