IT'S GONNA HAPPEN

Here it is the last week of October. When jack o’lanterns and sugar skulls should be at the center of celebration, time change grumblings are popping up like April dandelions. Up front; I don’t care, at all. Daylight saving - Daylight losing, all that changes is the position of the hour hand on a clock face. It’s no different than jet lag. Your circadian rhythm is jiggered for a few days but it self corrects and you make do; no one to blame. In lieu of bonafide credentials (I can tell time)  I feel qualified to address this stupid line of nothing-to-say, oral calisthenics. Resisting change is human nature, it has served us well for a long time but that was before the microscope and social media. Seek pleasure-avoid pain; human nature in a sound bite. With no wild beasts hunting us and few wars of occupation and oppression, we grasp at any handle that can be perceived as a threat. With no threats at the door, people vent that anxiety on inconveniences or as a last resort - change. 

Whatever the change involves it doesn’t have to be harmful, it just  has to feel wrong. Americans felt wrong about self absorbed politicians so they turned to a self obsessed, narcissist, wanna-be-god, business man: can you believe that? Now the same people are trying to paint a smile on that blunder because reconciling one’s own stupidity is inexcusable. So now, at the end of the day, someone is inconvenienced or simply frustrated by whichever change is in the news. Set your clock back one hour; time doesn’t change, just where the sun is when the little hand is on the 12. 

If Wikipedia can be trusted, Daylight Savings was introduced about a hundred years ago in New Zealand, then adopted across Europe. It was intended to save energy (all those candles.) At present, over a billion people in 70 countries observe some form of daylight savings. So it isn’t something particularly American and it has endured for a century without any significant fallout. I remember a local concern, once upon a time: the extra hour of daylight at the end of the day would put lights out an hour earlier. They didn’t say anything about lights coming on an hour earlier but blah, blah, blah. The concern was, people didn’t want kids walking to school in the dark and that makes some sense. I tend to be both critical and skeptical with new ideas but not so with change. It’s gonna happen and I would think it far better to be at the front of the parade with the band than be last, behind the horses. When my mother got tired of my grumbling she would tell me, “You would complain if they hung you with a new rope.” I’m not complaining about the narcissist, wanna-be-god but I’ll feel better when he falls off the cart. Human nature again, it’s all about feeling better. That change will make me feel better. I would set my clock ahead two hours or even skip a day for that.