It is 9 a.m. in B.C. while we pen this editorial. But it’s 10 a.m. in this newsroom.
Well, to be clear, the clock in the newsroom says it’s 10 a.m. We have yet to turn back the newsroom clock. There are a couple of reasons for this: One – we don’t have a ladder and, two – it reminds us of just how strange this whole turn-back-the-clock thing is.
Well, to be sure, it’s mostly about the first reason. But it really, really irks us.
Twice a year, we give ourselves a bout of jet lag without the fun of having gone on a trip.
This chronographic sleight-of-hand of switching between daylight time and standard time has been proven to be harmful to our health, our ability to drive, our workplace productivity and safety, and our moods.
Just ask any of the millions of parents of young children how much fun it is trying to outwit their circadian rhythms.
And for what? The pleasure of watching the sun set at 4:15 p.m. from the comfort of our offices?
The notion was cooked up during the First World War as a means to save energy.
Modern studies have shown it doesn’t.
We struggle to find any rationale for keeping up our two-timing ways, other than our own institutional lethargy to buck the status quo.
A gentle reminder for those who believe there’s an “extra hour” of sunshine that can be snatched out of our alarm clocks: The number of hours of daylight we have in a 24-hour period is governed by cosmological laws completely out of our control.
In September, the Union of B.C. Municipalities endorsed a resolution asking the province to consider scrapping this silly anachronism.
Premier John Horgan said he’s personally received thousands of emails from British Columbians on the matter.
We say the province should stop hitting the snooze button and do away with this harmful, illogical and, above all, needless hubris.
Let’s not do the time warp again.
