I have never liked daylight savings time. I am an early riser and I have never enjoyed getting up in the dark, but what is worse, is going to bed whenever it is still light outside. There is also the fact that twice a year my body has to readjust itself, which takes about a week. Maybe it’s no big deal to those people who often fly, changing time zones as easily as they change their clothing. I have suffered with insomnia for many years, so anytime I stray even slightly, from my normal sleeping routine; I am left sleepless, tired, and feeling wrung out.
Beyond the fact that appointments are often missed and people arrive early or late to an engagement, because they forgot to spring forward or fall back, there are numerous deleterious effects to the recurring time change. Studies have shown that there is an increase in heart attacks, automobile accidents, lethargy, and depression; and there is less alertness in school children immediately following a time change. While one of the arguments for daylight savings time back in the 1970’s was to save costs on electricity, whether or not it actually does, is controversial. Some say that the overall costs have increased.
Nearly all the flora and fauna on this planet regulate their lives by the hours of day and night. Humans, too, are sensitive to the number of hours of daylight. People, who are normally already over-stretched from lack of sleep, will be the most affected. They will be less alert, unable to concentrate, struggle with learning, and may be irritable. These are the very things that lead to accidents on the highway or with machinery, as well as to arguments and hostility. Couple that with any number of drugs that a person may be taking, and it is like waiting for an accident to happen. Isn’t it time that we stopped allowing the government to manipulate our lives? In the larger cities, human life goes on 24/7. Clearly, some professions require working at night and many people are naturally more nocturnal than others, but that is no reason to require the majority of people to endure the stresses of time jumps on a bi-yearly basis. We need to return to the normal time that was established centuries ago, and our government needs to focus on more pressing matters!
