As today is the time of year to set the clocks ahead one hour in honor of Daylight Saving Time (Thanks Ben Franklin, for more summer time to be outside) I thought I would pull out a post on the topic written two years ago. Would love to have you opine in the comments. This post was originally written on March 9, 2009.
DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME...WITH BIBLES!
As we cruised up the highway on the 40 minute commute this morning, the wife and I were having a discussion concerning daylight saving time. It went something like this...
Wife: (yawn) I am really super tired this morning.
Me: Hrmm. (While driving and reading a Tweet on the phone at the same time...an activity I don't recommend)
Wife: I said, I am really super tired this morning.
Me: (Putting the phone down and concentrating on the road before I plunge the three of us into a fiery death) Why is that?
Wife: Well the clock on the dash says that it is 7:00, but the internal clock in my body is telling me it is really 6:00 so I am pretty tired.
Me: (Pausing to digest the comment) What? That's crazy.
Wife: No, its not actually. It takes the body several days to adjust to the change of time when daylight savings time occurs. I saw it on Oprah once.
The phone beeps. I pick it up, new Tweets and an email coming in. Swerve to miss the car in front of me that was driving too slow. Heart rate increases. Put the phone back down, resolving not to pick it up again while behind the wheel.
Me: (slightly out of breath from my racing heart) That's silly. The clock said 10:00 when you fell asleep (You read correctly...10:00...PM...I know, right?) and 5:30 when you woke up...same as it always does.
Wife: Yeah but that was really going to sleep at 9:00 and getting up at 4:30, not 10:00 and 5:30.
Me: (Pausing once again while I try to get my head around this thought) But...it's still the exact same amount of time.
Wife: No, its not...it's an hour earlier.
Me: But...its still the EXACT same amount of time.
At this point The Peanut, sitting in the booster seat in the back, breaks out in a rousing chorus of Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds. I am not sure if her knowledge and enjoyment of such a song borders on wisely broadening my daughter's horizons or just bad parenting...but it is the truth.
Me: Sweety, please sing a song that is not about mind altering drugs...we will be at preschool soon. (REALLY don't want that call)
The Peanut ignores me and continues her Beatles tribute. I guess there could be worse things.
Wife: It is not the same because my body...Peanut sweety, it's diamonds, not bibles...because my body is used to the time the way it was, not the way it now is.
Me: (Head reeling at this point) WHAT? Whatever time the clock tells you, that is what time it IS. I went to sleep at 12:18...got up at 6:05...that six hours felt like the six hours all the weeks before it. I don't understand this metaphysical trickery you are talking about. Six hours is six hours!
Peanut: Mommy, why does Lucy like diamonds? Are they like the diamonds you have on your ring?
Wife: Yes, sweety. Lucy just likes expensive jewlery. Brian, I really think more people would agree with me on this than they would with you.
Me: No way. Maybe it is a male/female thing. Most guys I know don't walk around whining about their "internal clocks" being messed up because of daylight savings time.
Wife: That's because most men aren't smart enough to know how to READ their internal clocks. Trust me. All normal people struggle with this when the time changes.
Peanut: Lucy in the sky with bibles...Lucy in the sky with bibles...
As you can see, our morning commutes are quite...interesting.
I would like to pose our morning's debate question to my readers out there. Which side of the fence do you live on?
Are you in my camp where the clock says what it says and you don't need to rely on tricky, mind/time bending excuses for why your body feels off?
Or are you in my wife's camp where your "internal clock" takes days or weeks to reset because it is now confused. (No wonder women can't program VCRs...kidding...mostly)
If you feel so inclined, drop me your opinion (along with any other comments or backyard BBQ recipes) in the comments section here.
