Time Zones and Other Questions
Sunday I was sick and forgot to change the time on our clocks. I was reminded about how on my 5th trip outside of the two states I grew up in (at age 25), I was driving through Indiana and asked a lady at a gas station what time zone I was in so that I would know whether or not I needed to change the time on my watch. The lady said she didn't now what time zone she was in and just gave me the time. As I walked out of there, I thought to myself, "Boy, is that lady stupid."
While perhaps she should have known what time zone she was in from a geographic sense, at a practical level, I was the one being stupid. Since Indiana is one of only two states to not use daylight savings time and effectively changes time zones relative to the rest of the country, it was unimportant and probably unknown by most folks in Indiana. I was being the stupid one by asking what I thought in my ignorance was an obvious question.
This story always reminds me about how I go often through life asking what I think are obvious questions to get at answers to questions and forget that my underlying assumptions and ignorance may be blinding me a better way to approach the subject. With that in mind, thanks to all the bloggers and "real world folks" out there who challenge me to think about things differently and to reevaluate my unquestioned assumptions.
MB
3 comments:
Embracing the risk! :)
I feel the same way, MB. Thanks to you (and others), too, for challenging me.
I have a sneaking suspicion that all the problems caused by DST might just outweigh its benefits. :)
Actually, prior to 2006, some parts of Indiana (five counties near Cincinnati, OH; Louisville, KY; Chicago, IL; and Evansville, IN) did use Daylight Saving Time. The entire state now follows the practice. Currently, the only US states not observing DST are Hawaii and Arizona. Several US territories also stay on standard time all year. [source]
On a personal level, I love the light staying later in the summer, and I don't mind the "extra" hour of sleep in the fall, but losing an hour every spring is a hassle. My vote would be to just adjust everyone to DST all year!
Thanks for the link, Amy. I was just reading more about DST, too.
Apparently there might also be some energy savings from moving the time around... maybe since we don't need to use our lights as much?
Still, it's weird to consider that March 9, 2008 from 2:00am to 2:59am does not exist. :)
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