Morning Poll: End of Daylight Saving Time

Columns

by ARLnow.com — November 2, 2012 at 10:05 am 4,113 47 Comments

Daylight Saving Time will end on Sunday (Nov. 4). At 2:00 a.m., clocks will be set back one hour.

As Arlington residents “fall back,” fire departments across the country are reminding folks that it’s also a good time to replace smoke alarm batteries. The Arlington County Fire Department offers free smoke alarms for those who need them; call 703-228-4646 for more information.

While we’ll get an extra hour of sleep this weekend, the time change also means that it will be dark an hour earlier.

All things considered, how do you feel about the end of Daylight Saving Time this weekend?

Flickr pool photo by Mnemosyne2009

Fred

It’s Reagan’s fault!
B22201

Daylight Saving is antiquated, and pointless in today’s society.
- drax
  
  No it’s not.
  - JamesE
    
    yes, it is.
    - TCE
      
      +365
    - drax
      
      No, it’s not.
      - Captain_Obvious
        
        It could be.
      - drax
        
        We had something going there until you ruined it.
      - Captain_Obvious
        
        No you didn’t, unless you wanted the last word.
      - CourthouseChris
        
        Yes, he did.
- YTK
  
  Not so!! The bars get to stay open an extra hour!!!!!
  - Book Lover
    
    But….last call is still at 1:30 EST, so no alcohol sold after that point, regardless of the clock time.
    - Bar Lover
      
      Not in DC.
      - Right of Center
        
        result = flipped over DC cab
- Deadite
  
  It may not serve much of a true purpose anymore, but I like having more daylight in the PM in the summer months and more daylight in the AM in the winter months, which this current system provides.
  - CW
    
    I forget which is daylight savings time and which isn’t daylight savings time, but I could stick with whatever it is right now. Getting light at 8 AM and dark at 6 PM in the winter would work for me.
    - Deadite
      
      Yeah I guess whether one likes DLS depends mostly on one’s own work schedule, sleep cycle, partying schedule etc. There’s no way to please everyone, and it’s really not a big deal, but I nonetheless like seeing everyone flip out about it on Arlnow.
JamesE

I am tired of the liberals and big government controlling our time!
- drax
  
  I agree. I say it’s 5 pm. Bye.
  - DCBuff
    
    It’s 5 pm somewhere!
Mike

“Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.” – Ford Prefect (Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams)
Loocy

Lengthened daylight savings means pitch dark mornings, kids walking to school in the dark. Depressing and dangerous. So glad to see it end.
- Ballston
  
  Pitch dark mornings are preferable to it being dark before I leave work
  - dk (not DK)
    
    +1
  - Garden City
    
    I agree. The only things I’m doing in the morning are sleeping or going to work, neither of which requires much light. I’d much rather have more light in the evening, when my options for things to do are much broader.
- malaka
  
  Agreed. It was a mistake to lengthen it. GW Bush did it at the behest of his corporate sponsors in the sporting goods world, It passed as part of an energy bill – seriously getting up earlier when it’s cold and dark saves energy?!!!! Not to mention the disruption it caused to international air travel now that we are completely out of synch with the rest of the world for 2 weeks each fall and again in spring.
  - Actually . . .
    
    Before you reflexively blame George Bush, know that the Daylight Savings Time extension amendment was pushed by Rep. Ed Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts:
    
    http://markey.house.gov/press-release/april-6-2005-upton-markey-amendment-extend-%E2%80%9Cendless-summer
    - Arl for Now
      
      It was bipartisan, there were Ds and Rs. I believe Weber (the grill company) pushed hard for the change. So you can grill later into the fall.
      - drax
        
        If you are the kind of person who will grill when it’s 40 degrees outside, you are the kind of person who will grill in the dark.
Joehoya

An extra hour of sleep? Tell that to my four-year-old, who is going to wake me up when the clock says 5:15 now instead of 6:15.
- Glebe Roader
  
  Yep, me too.
- Deadite
  
  You’ve got first world problems.
- SomeGuy
  
  Create rules for your children. Make them adhere. It’ll help in the long run.
  - drax
    
    Gee, thanks, parental expert. I’m sure Joe didn’t think of that. Now he can go home and force his young child to stay in bed an hour longer and that will be really easy, like all rules imposed on 4-year-olds!
    - Glebe Roader
      
      Not only do I have to force my 4 year old to stay in bed an hour longer, I will force him to SLEEP for that extra hour.
    - SomeGuy
      
      You’re welcome, drax.
Mick

How do I feel?

“Betrayed, bewildered…”

– from The Birdcage
G Clifford Prout (now moderated for extra purity)

And don’t forget to vote on Tuesday so you don’t set your clocks back 50 years.
- John Fontain
  
  +1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.28
- SomeGuy
  
  I’m worried about our tax policies aligning too closely with those in certain European time zones.
- drax
  
  Nice!
- FreeNewtGas
  
  When gasoline was how much?
Live from Greenwich

Coordinated Universal Time will stay the same.
Rob

I think we should be on DST all the time (I like the extra light in the summer nights, but see no need to change back in the winter).

But, I do like the extra hour of sleep I’ll get Monday AM
Mitt

In my Administration you will have DST all the time AND an extra hour of sleep
sam the cat

If DST is elimitated will the metro be on time? Oh wait, metro operates outside of the influence of time.
Alan

The change sucks no matter how you look at it. there is no reason it should ever be dark at 6 o’clock.

Subscribe to our mailing list