The Madness of March

Am I getting ready for the annual NCAA Men's Basketball tournament? No...well, I'll watch it. But, it's not the subject of this post. It really has to do with our annual move to Daylight Saving Time. Put me in the camp that finds such a move inane. When it kicks in (set by Congress, mind you), it is a system disturbing event, at the very least on the biological level--people's sleep. When you change the rest state, it is very disruptive to those that experience it. In fact, one of most insidious methods man ever devised for torturing human beings is sleep deprivation. Add to this oft-used argument that making the hour change would save energy (as what was put forward by the DOT for Indiana's state-wide change). $7 million, eh? That suffers when examined independently. UCSB scientists actually showed in their post-DST change that Indiana actually spent $8.6 million more each year.

Yes, I'll stipulate that there are likely areas (and industries) of the country that benefit from DST. But the practice is offset when you take into account the negative effects that come out of it across the other areas and industries. Take for example the computer programming and code troubleshooting for the most recent change in Spring 2007. It was no small effort. Add to this, the enormity of its effect on productivity for those who had to patch systems because Congress moved up the date, and those that were late to get patched. The consequences here are systemic when it comes to daylight savings. And if you look at it in total, I'd argue that overall benefits are null. And if that's the case, why put the country through it? The very fact that we all have to physically change at least one setting on one electronic device for every single house, apartment, business, or utility alone is one enormous expenditure. The net effect is negative, IMO. And in the current state of the economy, is it worth it? Think about it on an energy scale.

And, that doesn't even take into account the more odious task of waking your kids the Monday after the change. The energy spent whining alone from that one DST moment would be better spent elsewhere, now wouldn't it? Curmudgeon, out.