People were kind of spacey and tired last week, what with the time change. Me, too. We’re just all kind of…off. Why do we still do daylight savings time, anyway? 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. 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 got 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!
I guess DST supposed to save energy, but studies show it doesn’t. In fact, what happens is people drive more so we use more gas. The real reason we do DST? I’ll tell you. It’s so folks like you and me will spend more time shopping and playing golf. Clever, huh?
But gosh it’s been hard getting up, come 5:30 in the morning. It’s dark and cold when Charlie and me head off to walk Scamp. And sure, on good days we get to watch the sun rise on our way home, but that’s not enough to get me excited about it. There’s the two of us, bleary eyed and yawning, too bushed to hold much of a conversation.
“How’d you sleep?”
“Huh?”
“Sleep okay?”
“I guess. Don’t remember much about it. You?”
“I guess.”
About half the countries in the world don’t even bother with DST, and there are a few states that don’t, either. I wish Maine was one of ‘em. See, I’m a morning person, and I’d rather have more sunlight in the AM than the PM. Besides, I don’t want my schedule disrupted twice a year. I like things simple, just as they are. No fiddling around with your electronic gadgets, wasting time resetting the clocks on your stove, microwave, car. I mean, why bother?
I figure it takes about a week for your body to adjust to DST so we’re over the worst. Still, let’s end this silliness, right now. Maybe this is something Congress can agree on. (Yeah, right!)
That’s it for now. Catch you on the flip side!
Hear Ida Tell It: Daylight Savings Time
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March 29 & 30: Ida: Woman Who Runs With the Moose, The Footlights Theatre, 7:30, Falmouth, ME
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