Who’s to blame for Daylight Savings Time

“That’s dangerous,” she said.  “Somebody might get killed.”

“What’s dangerous,” he asked.

“Daylight Savings Time,” she said.  “I get up at 6 am, except this time it was 5 am.  I’m so tired.  My body just hasn’t adjusted to the time difference.  I almost hit someone coming in this morning and then I tripped on the escalator. They ought to do something about it.”

“What do you want them to do,” he asked.

“Stop messing with the time,” she said.  “It’s just not natural to keep changing it all of the time.   Who’s to blame for this mess?”

“Blame the Monks.” he said.

“What have the monks got to do with it?” she asked.

“They’re the ones that starting marking off time.  They needed to know what time it was so they could get up for morning prayer, so they invented time and a way to measure it.” he said.  “Before that, no one cared about time.  They got up when it got light and went to bed when it got dark.”

“That’s it?” she asked.

“Not quite.  The industrial revolution meant that everybody had to be at work at the same time so they could work with the machines.  So, everybody had a clock.  In some places, the company just had a whistle.  When it blew, everyone knew the time.”

“And, that’s it?” she asked.

“Not quite.  When the railroads stretched their iron rails across the country, they needed common time across the whole United States.

“Getting a little poetic, aren’t you,” she said.  “So I can blame the railroads?”

“Not quite,” he said.  “During World War One the government started Daylight Savings Time, so the factories producing war gear could operate longer in the day without burning so much energy.   They did it again in World War Two.  And, they just kept continuing it.”

“So, I can blame the government?” she asked.

“Can if you want to,” he said.  “I’ve got the number for our Congresswoman on my phone.”

“Well, if I hit someone in my car tomorrow, I’m going to blame the government,” she said.

“It’s alright with me,” he said.