Saturday, February 07, 2009

No I Won't Rant About Daylight Saving

I'll just say:
I'm sick of getting up in the dark. It's summer for Heaven's sake.

I'm irritated by ending up going to bed just after I've eaten dinner which was late because I judge time naturally - by the sun not the clock.

I'm fed up with the waste of electricity from having the house lit up like a Christmas tree in the mornings because it's dark and everyone is getting ready at the same time - in different parts of the house. In the evenings there are usually fewer lights on because we do things like eat and watch television in the same room for at least part of the evening.

I'm beyond tired of people telling me they get more time with their kids because the clock has been messed with. Really? You'd rather spend an hour or so playing with kids who are cranky and tired in the evening instead of - oh I don't know - taking them with you when you walk the dog in the cool of the morning, going to the beach for an early morning swim, spending an hour playing at the park before breakfast while they are alert and full of energy - and yes, it is quite possible to do any of that before you go to work or take the kids to school when there is no daylight saving.

I'm angry that kids have to walk home from school in the hottest part of the day instead of when it has started to cool down.

I'm really annoyed about the way those who advocate messing with the clocks denigrate those who don't. If anyone ever actually said that they were worried about their curtains fading without being set up, which I doubt, it has no relevance to the debate.

I object to the fact that changing clock time favours only one part of the community, those who like long, light evenings, and disadvantages the other half, those who function better in the mornings. Why? Time untampered with both gives both a fair go.

I resent that, because I run out of energy towards the end of the day, I have less exercise and my fitness decreases because I am too tired to walk in the evening and it's too dark to walk in the mornings.

I protest too on behalf of my dog who feels the heat badly and so lasts about half the distance she needs to keep fit and happy when she has to be walked in the late - actually mid - afternoon heat or miss out completely.

Yes I know it's all about business and has nothing whatsoever to do with social benefit however much those in favour of it try to convince us it's otherwise. I might be more sympathetic if I hadn't worked for an organisation based on the east coast. I've tried but I can't think of one occasion when something was so vital that it couldn't be dealt with first thing the next morning. If there had been such a critical situation there was always a contact with senior management to cover emergencies anyway.

Daylight saving is workable in some parts of the world. I've lived in England where changing the clock by an hour really makes no difference due to the way summer nights become shorter and days longer the nearer you are to the Pole. But Western Australia is not in that climatic zone and it does not work that way here. All it does is push the start of day back into darkness.

3 comments:

Satima Flavell said...

Amen, amen and again, amen.

Unknown said...

...yes, it is quite possible to do any of that before you go to work or take the kids to school when there is no daylight saving.

I have to leave the house at 6.30 to get to work and am home before 5pm most days, so no, no it's really not.

Daylight savings suits me in a number of ways. Others don't like it, sure, but it's not a universal thing either way.

Cheers,

Lee
http://battersblog.blogspot.com
http://twitter.com/leebattersby

Helen V. said...

I take your point but what I am saying is that daylight saving caters only for one portion of the population which seems rather unfair. Natural time means everyone - whether night owls or early birds - gets the same spread of daylight hours. In your case you would still have two and a half hours of daylight to use as you wish and that is a substantial period.