Standard time finally arrived today, Monday, November 8. A biannual process I’ve been accustomed to for years has suddenly got me questioning my sanity or at least my ability to tell time. Almanac.com (and every other publication out there) noted that at 2am on Sunday, November 7, daylight savings time would end. They also noted that when we arose later on Sunday, the sun would come up one hour earlier than it did on Saturday.
Well, it didn’t. I woke up Sunday morning fully expecting to have everything set back an hour and found that nothing had happened. Comcast still thought it was daylight savings, the Patriots beat the Jaguars on daylight savings and even my Apple watch stayed on daylight savings.
Apparently, from what I can discern, new days start sometime after 2am now. I always thought that one second after midnight marked a new day but OBVIOUSLY NOT. I must have been the only one confused by this because everywhere I went on Sunday, people looked relaxed and happy (and cold, it was 59 in Sarasota).
Thankfully, when I woke up today, Monday, we were back to regular old standard time. The sun came up at its usual time but the clock called it one hour earlier than it was on Sunday. Of course that means it will get dark at 6pm today here on the western edge of the Eastern time zone and around 4:30 on Cape Cod.
Our government representatives are trying to help us with the clock changing problem. You know what that means: things will be more confused than ever. Right now, if a state wants to opt out of daylight savings time, all they have to do is pass a state law saying no more daylight savings in their state. That’s not what most states want. A large group of states that want to enjoy 12 months of daylight savings time and that would require the FEDERAL government to pass a law allowing states to permanently “opt-in” to DST. Below I have inserted a helpful map of states that have already enacted full time daylight savings time and are waiting for Congress to allow it.
Just imagine driving from state to state and having to check you watches at each state border. Instead of “Welcome to North Carolina” the signs will now read “Welcome to North Carolina, your watch is wrong but you are still in the Eastern Time Zone.” Flying looks much more attractive now since pilots already announce the local time when you land.
I wouldn’t worry about this happening anytime soon. It would require bipartisan support in Congress.
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