Fall back, schmall back!

I went to the Wikipedia to read up on Daylight Saving Time.  According to that source, the notion was originally floated by a guy from New Zealand, back in the late 19th Century.  And it says the "rationale" is that most people prefer a greater increase in daylight hours after the typical "nine-to-five" workday.

I can buy that - in fact, count me among them. So... why would we suddenly quit preferring daylight after 9-5, in Autumn when the days get shorter?

If anything, they should "fall forward" and "spring back," so we get that extra hour of precious daylight in the winter, when the days are shortest.

Starting Monday for a month or so, you'll get dressed in the morning and commute to work while the sun is up... big freakin' deal!  When you go home, maybe if you're lucky you can do a few minutes of outside stuff without artificial lighting.  By a month from now, it'll be dark all the time, except when you're at work.  (I'm describing the situation at roughly 43 degrees north latitude.  It varies.)  Oh goodness!  Just the thought give me Seasonal Affective Disorder!!

In any case, don't change the batteries in your smoke alarm on account of "falling back."  If your smoke alarm is anything like mine, it will start annoying you with incessant beeping when the battery is getting weak.  (Maybe Duracell is the powerful lobbying group that keeps DST alive.)

When I'm in charge, we'll have year-round DST... and "America the Beautiful" will be the National Anthem.

End of rant.