The thing about DST

You can’t really live in Indiana (the part that’s in the Eastern time zone) and not have an opinion on daylight saving time. That’s because we Hoosiers have only recently jumped on the DST bandwagon. And here’s the thing–I LOVE DST when we are on vacation. What’s not to love about going for ice cream at 9pm in Northern Michigan in June, and it being light out? What’s not to love about the fact that it’s dark til close to 7am–that’s awesome when I’m on vacation and not going anywhere anyway.

It bites to actually have to be employed, and worse yet, have to have your kids on a schedule while observing DST. Why don’t people in New York complain about such things? Well, partially because it’s the norm there, and partially because they are in the eastern part of the time zone. The most eastern portion of any time zone gets fewer extremes when springing forward (sunrise/sunset times) than the western part (the opposite it true in the fall). The extremes are enough for the stat of Indiana to spend another $8.6 million in energy costs.

So here’s the thing–here in Indiana, I’m thinking it would make more sense for the whole state to be in the Central time zone, like our Chicagoland counterparts in the northern part of the state. Then I’d save this sort of post for “falling back”, when it gets dark at 4pm–you know, when we are on ‘standard time’. Which is actually for only about 4 months a year anymore, so much for standard.

Another reason why I’m glad I am OFF all summer long….

5 Replies to “The thing about DST”

  1. Thank you! I have been saying this since I moved to Indiana nine years ago. We are in the wrong time zone. Why are we lining up with NYC instead of Chicago? It’s nuts.

  2. Oh I detest DST. We are on the western edge of CENTRAL time zone and I experience the same thing you do on the edge of the Eastern Time Zone. I grew up in Indiana and loved that the time never changed there (although we lived on the border with Michgan and had to get used to time changing). When I moved to Nebraska I had to make major adjustments!

  3. I grew up in Indiana, too, and am now in KY. I HATE DST!!!! I feel completely thrown off and have all week. It stinks!

  4. I LOVE spring ahead…hate fall back. AJ thrives on Spring ahead time and for some reason adjusts to it just fine…we have never had an issue with it, even when we lived in Michigan (and I loved being out until 9 am after he went to bed…it gave me some nice down time). But, fall back is horrible on him and it takes him about a month to adjust.

  5. I am not a fan of DST.

    Those who work outside (such as farmers) and have the luxury of not having a town job will keep working sunrise to sunset – regardless of the clock.

    For those who work in town, it seems to be sometimes an extra hour after work to do MORE outdoor work at home.

    From a Mama who LOVES our routine and a kid who thrives on it, changing isn’t always a big deal, but sometimes isn’t fun.

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