Published: October 30, 2009 02:01 pm      

It’s that time of year again

Larry Jones, Democrat Columnist

Last night, at exactly 2 o’clock in the morning, we again reverted back to Central Standard Time. All of a sudden 2 o’clock became 1 o’clock. To me this seems typical of the Hindu rope tricks that keep coming out of Washington D.C. In the Fall we get an extra hour before it is time to get out of bed, but we must pay the price each Spring. Personally, I just wish the government would get out of the time regulation business and leave me alone.

Being a farmer, my daily activities don’t change much because of the clock. For years, my normal routine has been determined by the sun. In the morning when it begins to get light, I get out of bed. In the evening as the sun begins to set, I go inside for the evening. This is not unusual, and many farmers don’t even bother to wear a watch. I’m a bit too “Type A” for that. Plus, if the cook doesn’t know when I’m coming to the house for dinner (lunch for you more urbane folks), I might be late and she would have given my plate to the dog.

Supposedly, the idea of Daylight Saving Time (not Daylight Savings Time) was first concocted by none other than Benjamin Franklin while he was the American delegate in Paris in 1884. He wrote an essay called “An Economical Project,” in which he discussed the concept. It garnered a bit of attention, but it was more than 100 years before any nation had the audacity to actually implement such a “crime against humanity.”

William Willett, an Englishman, was first to launch a determined effort to adopt DST in 1907. He spent a small fortune lobbying members of Parliament to enact enabling legislation. Proponents of the plan met with stiff resistance, especially from agricultural interests. It wasn’t until Germany adopted DST in 1916 that England finally passed a bill authorizing its adoption. It was extremely unpopular, but as usual, the government always knows best.

When I was a child down on Route One Millsap, keeping track of the time wasn’t much of an issue. We had one clock in the entire house. It was an old eight-day Westclox Big Ben wind up alarm clock that sat on the what-not shelf in a corner of the living room. This old clock allowed my mother to know what time to put the cornbread in the oven for dinner so it would be hot when Daddy came in from the field.

Daylight Saving Time didn’t cause much of a stir during these early days. With only one clock in the house, changing it wasn’t a major issue. Today this is not the case. Everywhere I look there are clocks that need changing each time we are cursed by DST. We have work watches, dress watches, alarm clocks, VCRs, microwaves, oven clocks, satellite receiver clocks, wall clocks, mantle clocks, TV clocks, car/pickup/tractor clocks, computer times, deer feeder clocks, and, heaven forbid, don’t forget the coffee pot timer we have to reset twice each year for reasons worthwhile to a tiny percentage of the populace. It would be interesting to calculate the value of the total man-hours required changing these clocks, plus the lost time due to errors and omissions in changing them, compared to the purported savings of DST. It wouldn’t surprise me if it resulted in a net economic loss.

If we did away with this bureaucratic boondoggle, the only folks I can see losing money would be the pharmaceutical companies. Blood pressure pill sales would probably plummet because grouchy old men like me wouldn’t need nearly as many.

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Larry M. Jones is a retired Navy Commander and aviator who raises cattle and hay in the Brock/Lazy Bend part of Parker County. Comments may be directed to nowhearthis@pwhome.com.