Falling Back An Hour

I don't get Standard Time. I don't understand it. I don't see why it exists.

Why would anyone want - why do we need  - to have shorter days and longer nights? When I was a child, growing up in Hong Kong, we used to fall back an hour in the autumn and move ahead in the spring. Now, and I must confess I wasn't aware of when it stopped happening, Hong Kong and The Philippines (where I was born) don't change their clocks. Now that we've gone back an hour here in New Jersey, my parents and other family members in Manila are ahead thirteen hours. In the summer, it's a nice and easy twelve. One of my sisters lives in England. They don't move the clocks over there, either. 

So, why do we do it here in America? It doesn't seem to make sense to me and if anyone can explain it so it's as clear as the daylight I miss, I'd be very grateful to hear from you. It just seems that people are happier and more productive when there's more daylight. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) would be suffered less, for one thing. Also, less electricity and other energy resources would be used up because, simply, we wouldn't need it. Now, by 4pm, I 've got to open my outside light. During Daylight Savings Time (DST), I  can leave it closed until about 8pm. That's four hours less of resources being used and money I'm putting out. 

Just a few moments ago, a little after 6pm, my wife told our son that in a few minutes it would be time for bed. When she saw the actual time, she laughed and said, in Tagalog, "It's still early. " I smiled but with the switch of clocks and seeing how dark it is already, I don't blame her. We're not chicken who sleep depending on when the sun goes down and awaken when it comes back up. 

So, again, what's the pointof Standard Time? I'm just glad that, before he left office, President George W. Bush signed a bill that delayed the falling back weekend by a couple of weeks and moved the return to DST up by the same time frame. I'll adjust to the longer nights, as I do every year, but I'll be counting the days and waiting with excitement for March 9, 2014 to arrive. That, if you haven't guessed or don't already know, is when we go back to DST and when we get back to seeing the light. I just wish that those who decide when and if we say goodbye to DST see it light too.