Should NY Get Rid of Daylight Saving Time in 2019?
Daylight Saving Time rolls around this time every year, and we have to remember to change our clocks and our sleep gets all messed up. New York should just get rid of the whole thing.
Why do we even have Daylight Saving Time, anyway? According to People magazine, the practice started in 1918, during World War I, as a way to save coal. It ended after the war, but since so many areas continue to follow it - the government re-enacted it officially in 1996. Two states: Arizona and Hawaii don't observe the practice. Oh, and the Department of Transportation is in charge - shouldn't they focus on more important things like roads and trains and stuff?
Here's the kicker: a study from Michigan State University says we only actually gain 12 minutes of sleep when the clocks "fall back" and we lose about 40 minutes when the clocks "spring ahead". I'm not great at math, but I think that means that in a few years, we'll only have about 9 minutes of sleep left the rest of the year.
This year, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida is re-introducing legislation, the "Sunshine Protection Act" of 2019 which would end the practice of falling back and springing forward every year. Yes, please.
Life is complicated enough - let's just leave the clocks where they are. Let focus on more important things...like why there seem to be fewer and fewer Thin Mints in every box of Girl Scout cookies.
Daylight saving time begins this Sunday, March 10, 2019 at 2:00 a.m. - so don't forget to set your clocks ahead one hour - and check the batteries in your smoke detectors!