Daylight Time

If “truth in labeling” extended to government edicts we would not have daylight saving time but rather, “activity rescheduling.”

The sun shines for so many minutes on a given day regardless of what our clocks say. The only possible reason for the clock change is to avoid confusion by having everyone change uniformly and avoid the nuisance of changing business hours signs.

It is not carved in tablets of stone that banks must open at 10 a.m. or that stores must open at 9:30 a.m. or that children must be in school at (for example) 8:15. These are arbitrary times, based on custom and long usage. Why not just start everything earlier, all year around? Granted, some morning activities would be in darkness, but I think sunlight is more useful for the homeward rush, when people are tired.

Meanwhile, Old Sol looks down upon us silly humans with our artificial clocks and laughs. The only real solution is the “flex-time” system used in some non-production-line industries where employees put in their 40 hours on a schedule that suits them, not some arbitrary starting and quitting time.

ROBERT L. DAVIS

Duarte