Some folks have surprisingly strong opinions regarding Daylight Savings Time, which takes effect this weekend with the "spring forward" phase. I've never really cared one way or another, probably because in my newspaper reporting career there were all sort of odd hours and split shifts. When a person has that sort of lifestyle, what difference does an hour on the clock mean?
Benjamin Franklin no doubt never dreamed that his Daylight Savings Time idea would take widespread effect, two centuries after he conceived it. He definitely had some more important inventions.
There clearly are winners and losers with Daylight Savings Time. Obviously, the golf courses and sporting goods business owners have to like DST, while the movie theater and restaurant entrepreneurs aren't so enthusiastic.
If you're a morning person, like a farmer, Daylight Savings Time is a misnomer, because the amount of daylight stays the same, only on the clock it's an hour later when the rooster crows.
Various studies report DST impact on everything from auto fatalities (fewer) to alcoholism and suicides (higher), but i have a tough time comprehending this.
If I had to vote on Daylight Savings Time, I would vote against, because just when the kids get a chance to open their school days in sunlight, suddenly the metaphorical drapes are drawn and they resume starting in the dark. Or if DST is so desirable, maybe it would be better to have it only during the school vacation period, not all the way from March to November.
