This week we got that shock to the system on Sunday night: “Holy cow, it’s dark out and I haven’t even thought about what to make for dinner!”
I call it, “The most depressing night of the year” — well, any night outside of one of my Philly teams getting eliminated from the playoffs. Yes, I was too busy sweating that Eagles-Cowboys game — only the scoreboard could say which team was better in that one — to notice the sun went down around 5:30.
I’m not the only one who mentions it. But I’m just acknowledging it. Everyone else full-on complains about it. Including one of our esteemed politicians, Sen. Marco Rubio.
Over the last two years, he’s vocally supported ending “fall back” and “spring forward” for good, calling it, “Everyone changing their clocks by one hour for no good reason.”
In 2022, he put a bill to the Senate to end the practice — and it passed. So why are we still freaking out when we get in the car the first time after the time change? Because the House of Representatives didn’t vote on it.
In his bill he threw around some stats: “The stress imposed on our bodies by abruptly changing time may cause a 6 percent increase in car crashes, an eight percent increase in strokes, an 11 percent increase in depression, and a 24 percent increase in heart attacks.”
I hate it when geeks start using stats when we’re not talking sports, because sports stats actually prove things. Rubio’s just trying to prove to people he’s doing something constructive.
And, sure, we had to adjust on Sunday. Heck, I was awake at a normal Sunday time, did my Sunday chores … and realized it was just after noon when I was done. Who needs an extra hour of sleep, when you can catch a free nap! By Monday, everything was normal again, aside from it being darker when pulling into the driveway.
The thing is, there is a good reason to take like 10 seconds to change the clocks (that aren’t already automatic) twice a year. If we didn’t “fall back” going into the winter, then all of our kids — not just the high schoolers who arrive at O-Dark-30 anyway —would all be going to school in the dark until about April. Hey Marco, where are the stats that talk about the increase in children getting hit by a car walking to school or a bus stop, or waiting for that bus next to the road?
I know it’s a little like playing God, but changing clocks gives us a chance to move the daylight we do get to a time when we need it the most. Besides, Rubio, a Florida Senator who’s stuck in a corner of the country, should be the last person to suggest something like this. What about people who live farther north or west, who get a fraction of winter daylight than Floridians?
We’ve been doing it all our lives, folks. Keep doing it for your kids. If you need a flashlight for when you get home from work, at least they won’t have it.
