What I have learned about Daylight Saving Time

This column will begin with a confession. This writer has boasted for years that most of what I write has been “off the top of my head.” That simply means I wrote what I was thinking and not copying or writing the precise position of another person. While that claim has largely been true and is evidenced by the poor organization of much of my material, at the same time, there is the necessity of reaching into the deep recesses of the mind and using what has been heard, read or seen. That is what is meant by “writing off the top of my head.”

Now the confession: Material on the subject as titled has been read and reread thoroughly. While notes have not been taken except for taking a name or date along the way, preparation for my column as I write is referred to as research. I hesitate to refer to “what I have learned about Daylight Saving Time” because of the great amount of conflicting positions and thoughts on the subject. But I have learned some things and it is to that end I will share some with you today. The things I share will not exhaust the subject because just the title of various offerings of the subject would fill hundreds of columns the size of this one. So let us begin with:

It did not take long to realize there was real disagreement concerning whether it should be “Saving” time or “Savings” time. The study of that point was interesting but suffice it to say the proper expression seems to be Daylight Saving Time. You will see it rendered both ways by “those in the know.” You choose.

Name the trait of Daylight Saving Time ( DST henceforth) and the varying DST.

A widely circulated position over the years has been that the agricultural world has strongly supported DST. In a welldocumented book of 2009, “Seize the Daylight,” one David Prerau quoted an agricultural lobby that argued it 1919, “If you want to cut off 25 percent of the productiveness of the American farmer, just keep this law on the books.”

During the debate on the issue in Georgia, several humorous examples came from our halls of government. It is reported that one official said in a joking manner to a colleague, “John, let’s introduce a law to lower the average temperature 10 degrees in the summer and raise the average 10 degrees in the winter.” You see the point?

Story was told of a local egg producer that he was getting used to the time change but it was messing up his chickens something terrible.

Then there was a fellow church member who was cantankerous about any subject on which there could be disagreement. The subject of the change in time came up and he argued in a dogmatic manner that it did not make any difference to him because he would come at the same time as always.. Yes, he came at the same time the next Sunday morning. He arrived just as the church services were being dismissed.

There will be more said on this subject in next week’s column. Not read or seen yet but saw the title and I hope to examine a copy soon is a Tuft University professor’s book “Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time.”