People were kind of spacey and tired last week, what with the time change. Me, too. We’re all just kind of…off. Whether we’re springing forward or falling back, it’s a royal pain in the patootie!
It’s amazing what screwing around with our sleep schedules can do, right? I mean, it’s just one hour. It shouldn’t make that much difference. But get this: on the Monday after we switch to DST, heart attacks go up by 24%. Strokes increase, too. Car accidents climb 17%. I’m reading that folks are more likely to get injured at work due to “attention lapses and micro-sleeps.” Charlie’s
sitting at the kitchen table one day last week, working on his second cup of coffee, when I look over and see him dozing off. “Charlie!” I yell. “Finish up your coffee and get to work.”
Down to the A&P, me and my fellow cashiers made more voids on the register this week than normal, that’s for sure. No one got hurt, but I gotta say perhaps our pride was a little bruised. I’m just glad I don’t work a night shift, because those folks only get paid for seven hours instead of eight. What the heck? It’s not their fault we arbitrarily fool around with time!
Gosh it’s been hard getting up at my usual 5:30 in the morning. It’s dark and cold when I head off to walk Scamp. But I sure have been enjoying the extra sunlight in the evening. ‘Course I’d enjoy it more if I weren’t so tired.
In 2019, Maine (along with 17 other states) passed a law to stay on DST all year ‘round. But here’s the deal: states can decide to not do DST (Arizona and Hawaii don’t), and that’s okay. But it takes an act of Congress to stay on DST all year ‘round. The good news is the Senate passed the Sunshine Protection Act last week that will do just that. Now the House has to do the same.
‘Course the naysayers are already talking about how we should be doing Standard Time all year ‘round. My opinion? Pick on and stick to it.
I figure it takes about a week for your body to adjust to DST, so we’re over the worst. I saw snow drops in a neighbor’s yard this morning. And soon, one of the best days of the year will be here: the opening of the Dairy Queen!
That’s it for now. Catch you on the flip side!
Hear Ida Tell It: Daylight Saving Time