Commentary By Adam Smith

The North Jefferson News



Good afternoon, or good morning.

Depending on whether or not you remembered to “fall back,” it could be either a.m. or p.m. in your life. Hopefully, everyone has remembered to set their clocks back an hour by this point.

I spent Saturday night in Chattanooga, which is an hour ahead, so when I woke up at 8 a.m. on Sunday morning, I was actually waking up at 6 a.m. Drats! I woke up at 6 a.m. on a Sunday morning. Unthinkable!

I’m one of those people who believes we should do away with the time changes. I understand it was established to help cut down on energy costs during the 1970s. However, this is not the 1970s and energy costs are more expensive than they’ve ever been. Does setting your clock back or forward really mean you’re going to be paying anything less than $2.85 at the gas pump? I don’t think so. Does setting your clock back or forward really mean you’re going to use fewer lights in your house or run your heater or air conditioner less? Doubtful.

Plus, it’s just a painful process to go through. In my own life, I have at least five clocks that have to be reset when the time changes. I have my alarm clock, my watch, the clock on the stove, the clock on my bedroom wall and the microwave clock. Modern science has paved the way for heart and lung transplants, but they can’t make a microwave or stove clock that springs forward or falls back automatically. Unthinkable!

I also have to reset the clock in my car, which I usually figure out is wrong while I’m driving. I could reset the clock while I’m parked, but I do love the challenge of being able to reset the car clock while cruising down the road.

It’s much easier in the spring, because you usually just have to hit one button to move the hour up. In the fall, you have hit that same button about 11 times to bring the clock to the correct time. I’ve often thought about not changing at all, but I hate to run the risk of showing up an hour early to anything. It’s always better to be fashionably late.

If George W. Bush wanted to do something truly useful, he’d abolish the time change system in the U.S. As an American, the time change system stinks of something European.

While we’re at it, I think we should abolish all time changes. I feel it should be the same time, all over the world. Think of all the advantages of being able to say, “If it’s 7 p.m. here, I wonder what time it is in California?” Why, it would be 7 p.m., silly.

Granted, it would get dark or light early or late in certain parts of the world. It may take a while to get used to going to sleep while the sun is at its highest point, but I’ve done it; they’re called afternoon naps.

Friends and family can also more easily communicate with those who are living overseas. There wouldn’t be any more worrying about if someone is in bed by a certain time or not.

It’s a system that would take a while to get used to, sure, but I think it has its benefits. In the meantime, top of the morning to you and/or good day, gov’nor.