Sick and tired
It's 2023 and we're still fooling around with the ridiculous Standard Time/Daylight Savings Time, semi-annual, ritual.
If I'm making less sense than usual, it's because I — along with most everyone else — am sleep deprived, and frankly, a bit cranky. Why do we continue this farce?
In 2018 we passed Proposition 7, which favored sticking with one or the other, by a healthy 60 percent margin. My personal choice, not only because I'm a relatively late riser, is Daylight Savings Time, figuring more light at the end of the day is most important for several reasons including more playtime outside after a day shift and, of course, needing less electricity to light our homes and businesses. But the bill died in committee and its champion, Kansan Chu, DSan Jose, left office. Irvine Republican Assemblyman Steven Choi took control but it failed to receive the two-thirds vote needed to pass.
The U.S. Senate passed Florida's Marco Rubio's Sunshine Protection Act, which would permanently lock in Daylight Savings Time but it's now languishing in the House Energy and Commerce Committee where its chair, New Jersey Democrat Frank Pailone Jr., is reluctant to make a hasty decision for fear of, “a change in public opinion.” Mr. Pailone, reading the tea leaves. The only change in public opinion will be for the permanent lock, so you'd be safe, and so would your legacy.
The people of the United States in a recent Economist/ YouGov poll prefer, by a 4-1 margin, remaining on one or the other and of those favoring, prefer, also by a 4-1 margin, choosing Daylight Savings Time as a permanent fixture. Arizona and Hawaii are already there. Oregon and Washington are in favor and are apparently waiting for California to take the leap, thinking strength in numbers perhaps?
Studies show that directly after the change to DST, suicide numbers increase as do auto accidents. Heart attacks increase as our overall health decreases, sleep deprivation affects all to the point of some businesses actually closing for a few days and most teachers avoid testing students during this period, especially if they have to wake them up.
Legislators, please legislate. The majority of the public wants permanent DST. As the saying goes ... Lead, follow ... or get out of the way.
This sleep tip from our own U.S. Air Force must be shared. Having trouble falling asleep? Does the circus enter your brain at just the wrong time? Try this. After you snuggle under the covers, repeat this phrase over and over: “Don't think ... don't think ... don't think.” What this essentially does is free the mind from thought, allowing your tired body to fall asleep. While repeating this phrase you simply can't think of anything else. Pilots use this technique.
— Michael J. Haworth, Vallejo