Daylight Savings Time; Not for me!

Did you know it's mostly just North America that changes time in spring and fall? The rest of the world either doesn't care about clocks that much or lets nature takes its' course. Daylight Savings Time  is usually not helpful in the tropics, and countries near the equator generally do not change their clocks.

I, for one, am not in favor of losing an hour in the spring. I can think of ten reasons NOT to spring ahead on March 8th.

1. There is evidence that the number of auto accidents increases in the dark mornings.

2.  Children are less visible as they cross roads and wait for school buses in the darkness.

3. The argument is always made that the time change was first initiated for the farmers. This is not true. The US policy began around the time of WWI, was repealed a while later and began again around WWII, was stopped again, then in 1966 Congress passed the Uniform Time Act, the first nonwartime implementation of the practice. (I guess Vietnam didn't count as a war?)

4. We lose an hour of sleep. I already have issues many nights not getting enough sleep, losing an hour doesn't help. Your internal body clock just gets messed up.

5. Energy is saved. No, not really. It's dark in the morning so I will use more heat and electricity than if it were still light out. I might use less at night, unless it's hot and I'm using my air conditioner more at night when in the cool morning I wouldn't need it. There aren't any conclusive studies that prove energy is saved by changing the clocks by an hour.

6. Clock shifts were found to increase the risk of heart attack by 10 percent. Čuli, Viktor. "Daylight Saving Time Transitions And Acute Myocardial Infarction." Chronobiology International: The Journal Of Biological & Medical Rhythm Research 30.5 (2013): 662-668

7. I don't like running outside in the morning much anyhow, going out in the dark makes it even worse.

8.  There are too many clocks to change. Have you walked around your house at 3am recently? Coffee pot clock, radio clocks, dvd player clock, vcr clock (yes we still have two of those that work) the clock on your oven. Then you have to change the clocks in your vehicles, the clocks at work. It never ends. Oh, and the one on your wrist, except for the kids who don't own a wrist watch and rely on their phone.

9. Work productivity decreases as people adjust to the time change. I wonder if I can use this excuse with my boss? A 2009 US study found that on Mondays after the switch to DST, workers sleep an average of 40 minutes less, and are injured at work more often and more severely.

10. Cows don't like the change, their rhythm gets messed up. I don't want my milk to go bad because a cow lost sleep or didn't get milked at the right time!