DST is Coming, Run For Your Lives!
In a week, the US and Canada are changing when they go to Daylight Savings Time. It must also be a slow news time, as well, because I’ve read several articles like this, “Daylight-Saving Time Change: Bigger than Y2K?”
When Y2K came around, a number of us quoted Marvin the Martian (now of the Boston Police Department) on this: “Where’s the kaboom? There was supposed to be an earth-shattering kaboom!” So I think that’s going to be a big “yes” on the question. Any positive number is bigger than zero, so no one’s going to be embarrassed for over-reporting.
Eweek also said, “Our story tries not to turn this into a Chicken Little exercise, but it does lay out the reasons why this could be huge.” Oh, please. Any time someone says they’re not trying to be Chicken Little but — you know they’re being Chicken Little, and so do they.
Might there be problems? Ayup. I have to fly that Sunday, and I’m even less pleased than I would be otherwise. There will be screwups. But really, it’s an hour. There will be people late to things, and we’ll cope.
I think this latest change is monumental stupidity, and I’m someone who thinks we should just go to year-round DST. Before, there was one week difference between Europe and North America in DST. Now there’s — eesh. I don’t know, yet. Regularizing them would have made much more sense, despite my belief that more DST is better. Heck, we ought to stop saving it and invest for the increased return.
Dear Mordaxus: You should regard the DST issue as an opportunity for computer professionals to get more work. So instead of seeing it as a problem, you could offer suggestions on how to market one’s skills to an increasingly frightened and susceptible public.
thank you for your support for computer professionals.
sincerely, the Y2K Committee
The worst time I ever had at an airport was a spring day when DST had kicked in the night before. I arrived two hours early (or “on time” for me) and the line hardly moved at all while I waited to check in. Had I not been bumped up when my flight time approached I would have missed my plane, like the hoards who showed up late because they didn’t move their clocks up an hour.
I shudder to think what it’s going to be like this year.
I still fail to understand why we need to change the clocks at all. And the people who want to to year-round DST are truly stupid. Why don’t we just get up an hour earlier and just leave the damn clocks alone???