Daylight Savings

Dear Abby reminded me yesterday that at 2 am this morning the clocks would officially "fall back," as they always do this time of year. Yet I always find myself surprised by the news, and grateful that I heard about it at all. I don't watch the news on a daily basis (where I'm sure they would remind their viewers of the change), and don't normally read about it in the newspaper. It usually comes to me by word of mouth, as an afterthought nonetheless:

"Oh, don't forget about tomorrow. Daylight savings and all."

A little history about daylight savings for you:

• The idea was first thought of by Benjamin Franklin, who said it would save money by reducing the number of candles used
• America first adopted daylight savings in 1918 during WWI, but it wasn't popular and was repealed.
• Daylight savings changed from being year-round to just summer a few times.
• In 2005 George W. Bush enacted the Energy Policy Act, which extended daylight savings (from April-October to March-November).

I still find it a facinating concept. I understand it is used to help save energy, to keep school kids out of the dark, etc. Still, who would have come up with the idea to just 'move time around'? It seems weird to be able to change time, which we normally dub as constant and unchanging. Secondly, I can't believe that people would agree to it. Many resent the thought of change (especially of something that essentially affects everyone's lives) and you have the recipe for rejection. Perhaps this is why it was revoked at first. Yet over time, we have grown to accept changing our clocks as a part of our culture and lives.

How have I, and like so many forgetful people, managed to stay in the loop? It is always a reoccuring dread that one day I will arrive to school or work too early (or, in the spring, too late). I would have to sit around for an hour, turn and go home, or make up a weak excuse as to why I got there so early. Luck always passes my way, though, and I am reminded.

How do we remember to remind each other? Because no one wants to look like a fool. We all know what it's like to look like an idiot; these memories stay with us longer than the good ones (in a sense of defeat, our hippocampus-part of the brain that deals with memory- is activated, causing us to remember our failures to a much stronger degree). And we are all, whether we admit it or not, compassionate beings. We do not want others to experience these slip-ups, either. We remind each other, and in this way, we help each other.