There is a movement underway in Michigan to eliminate Daylight Saving Time (DST).
One of the proponents concludes that moving the clocks ahead one hour in March has a detrimental impact on school children, on drivers, on workers, and society in general.
Incidentally, there is some information that the day after the clocks are changed, car accidents increase, as do heart attacks, but in my opinion that is no reason to eliminate DST. And of course some argue that people are late for appointments and school attributed to DST.
But we are talking one hour! How about people who travel to other states and countries where there is a significant time change? Somehow they survive.
When Daylight Saving Time came in existence, owners of drive-in movie theaters objected strongly because it would mean that shows would not start until after 9 p.m. Previous to the time change, drive-in theaters could show two movies, as the starting time was around 7:30 p.m. But as we know, most drive-in theaters have closed not because of the time change but because people’s habits have changed and there is now a limited interest in watching movies from an automobile.
Golf course owners are also objecting to the proposal to eliminate Daylight Saving Time. Golfers now enjoy hitting the links as late as 8 p.m. while still getting in a round of golf.
The proponent of the proposal also suggested that Michigan switch to Central Time on a year round basis. Actually, part of the upper peninsula is in the Central Time Zone because of its proximity to Wisconsin. It has to be a bit confusing. Heck, I remember when portions of Indiana were in two different zones. We were early for a dinner years ago in Indiana. Our hotel was in one time frame and the restaurant was in another. Talk about confusing!
Now let’s be clear on this. There are two states that do not adhere to Daylight Saving Time, namely, Hawaii and Arizona. Not sure why Arizona opted to ignore DST because all the states around have changed their clocks.
So as you can tell, I am all for Daylight Saving Time. I like running and riding my bike and golfing and fishing late into the day. What can be wrong with that?
To sum up my feelings let me close with a verse from a popular country song by Hank Williams:
I saw the light, I saw the light
No more darkness, no more night
Now I’m so happy no sorrow in sight
Praise the Lord I saw the light.
Let’s hope we will be able to enjoy late evening summer events for the foreseeable future. For me personally, I want to continue “to see the light”!
Bill Kalmar
Lake Orion resident