A few weeks ago, an annual event took place that we hardly noticed. That’s because it only affects us when we need to know the hour on the continent.
You guessed it: Daylight saving time.
What a concept. Who needs to save daylight? But there are places east of here that obsess over it. Rumor has it that as far back as 1784, Benjamin Franklin suggested saving daylight in order to preserve candles. He might have been joking but with Ben, you never know.
The United States has five continental time zones: Alaska, Pacific, Mountain, Central and Eastern. Due to colonization, add four more: Atlantic (Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands), Hawaii-Aleutian, Samoa and Chamorro (Guam).
Most of us have to do serious arithmetic before long-distance calling or estimating time of arrival and departure.
Daylight saving time (DST) aims to save daylight. Obvious, but only if you live with four seasons. In early spring when days are growing longer, clocks in continental time zones are set an hour ahead so everyone can enjoy more daylight. Then six months later when days are getting shorter due to approaching winter, they’re moved back.
Confused in Seattle by the manipulation of clocks, I was given this little ditty to remember which direction to go. “Spring Ahead and Fall Back!” Get it? Not me because in Pidgin, we use such phrases as “go come” and “try wait,” so in my world, spring back and fall ahead also make sense.
The push to save daylight began in 1918 to conserve energy to fight World War I. It stopped when the war did, but was reintroduced in 1942 with World War II. When that war ended, states could continue saving light or not and kapakahi clock time ensued. In 1966, Congress passed the Uniform Time Act, with Hawaii and Arizona opting out of the DST portion.
There’s a rumor that American farmers want an extra hour of daylight but they don’t. For one, dairy farmers cannot get their cows ready for milking an hour early. Apparently Bossie follows no clock and her milk flows according to the sun.
Every now and again, I hear some Hawaii residents clamoring for DST and wonder why. In the middle of the Pacific and close to the equator, our daylight hours hardly change. The only explanation I can come up with is that there are people here who always want to do whatever the mainland does, even when it makes no sense.
The United States Senate just passed the Sunshine Protection Act making DST permanent. It excludes Hawaii and other islands and now awaits action in the House.
Why switch permanently to daylight saving time? If anyone needs more daylight, there are simple solutions without an entire continent printing new schedules for transportation, school, government, banking, business. If you want more daylight when days are longer, get up earlier. If you need another hour of light when the day darkens, buy a lamp.
Besides, with many doing world-wide business and social activities online, clock time varies wildly anyway. Instead of making daylight saving time permanent, how about dropping it completely? At dawn cows start giving out their milk. At noon the sun casts no shadow. At dusk the lights go on. Sounds more sensible if you ask me.
China’s vastness also spans 5 time zones but the entire country uses the same clock. They do no math when calling each other and daylight saving probably isn’t even in their vocabulary.
Maybe the U.S. should follow the Chinese.
It’s a joke!
Maybe.
Rochelle delaCruz was born in Hilo, graduated from Hilo High School, then left to go to college. After teaching for 30 years in Seattle, Wash., she retired and returned home to Hawaii. She welcomes your comments at rainysideview@gmail.com. Her column appears every other Monday.