The Worst Idea Ever

At long last Spring Break is here.  Not surprisingly, my life revolves around the academic calendar.  What is curious to me is that there are three times during the year when work becomes ridiculously time-intensive--the first two are the ends of Fall and Spring semesters (and Spring semester is the busier one).  The other time is right before Spring Break.  Spring Break is such a big break in the schedule that lots of work needs to get done right before the break.  Most of the time, I can easily put something off for another few days (I am quite adept at the whole procrastination-thing (but don't tell my kids--I am trying to convince them that procrastination is a really bad habit)), but my procrastination hits a wall right before Spring Break, so suddenly all sorts of things need to get done.  Spring Break is nice, though--I make a long list of all the things I really need to get done over the break and then proceed to put off most of them until the following week.  But, hope springs eternal--and it is a good feeling to at least imagine that maybe I'll get those midterms graded before next Tuesday.

But, talking about my schedule is not the real point of this post.  (What do you mean there is never a real point to any post??)  I hate Daylight Savings Time.  It has become one of the most absurd things in the year.  Consider.  We now spend only about one-third of the year on regular time.  So why not simply move the time zones over one?  This whole "We don't want the kids getting on the bus in the dark" nonsense is no excuse.  After all, in the winter, they do get on the bus in the dark.  It's dark in winter.  The days are short.  The whole "Daylight Savings Time extends the length of the day in summer" line is even more absurd.  Days are longer in summer.  And, if we switch the time zones over by one, then the summer won't be affected,.  It would be the winter which would be affected.  And, it won't be any darker or lighter in winter if we move the time zones and get rid of DST.  So, what are those benefits of Daylight Savings Time again?  And even if you want to pretend there is a benefit, how in the world does anyone think said incredibly small and probably utterly absurd benefit is larger than the manifestly obvious cost of competely disrupting sleep patterns?  I am tired again today.  It will be two or three more days before I adjust to going to bed an hour earlier and getting up an hour earlier than I am used to doing so.  While I can mentally say, "For some stupid reason, humans have decided it would be fun to pretend that it is now an hour later," the rest of my biological being, not being in tune with such irrationality is wondering, "Why are you trying to go to bed an hour earlier, and even more importantly, why are you getting up so early?"

I suspect the Decline of Western Civilization dates from the adoption of Daylight Savings Time.  After all, it is nothing more than an act destroying the benefits of sleep in the quest of proving that we humans are so smart we can control time.  The rest of the universe goes on merrily without daylight savings time, but we humans, we brilliant humans, have to show our mastery over everything including Time itself.  But, as much as I am a proponent of the whole "Humans are the Best" philosophy--seriously, Humans are the Best--Humans do not have the ability to overrule Time.  And, the biological part of me really, really would rather have a decent night's sleep than feel some pathetic thrill by trying to show Time who is Boss.