Daylight Savings Time Started out As a Joke - It's Time for It to End

Historians will tell you that Benjamin Franklin had a sense of humor. 

Proof lies with the joke essay he wrote in 1784 that appeared in a letter to the editor of The Journal of Paris as "An Economical Project for Diminishing the Cost of Light."

In the essay he concluded that Parisians could save more money on candles by getting out of bed earlier in the morning and utilizing more natural light for longer.

It was meant more as a joke than a serious proposal, so nothing was done about it at the time.

The modern Daylight Savings Time was first officially enacted in Germany by Kaiser Wilhelm during the first world war as a fuel-saving measure.

It didn't take long before Europe and eventually the United States got on the bandwagon. Americans can thank President Woodrow Wilson for making it a reality in 1918.

Daylight Savings Time withered away after the war. The average American rejected it and it was officially dumped.

That wasn't the end of it, however.

The energy-saving measure was resurrected again in WW II by President Roosevelt who dubbed it "War Time" and that was that. On February 9, 1942, Daylight Savings Times was once again deemed the official standard.

It was a messy process that required each state to accept the new time standard. The American working class has groaned ever since.

It's time to move on. We're in the 21st century and have long since lost the need to artificially mess with our days. It's just a habit now that needs to be put to rest.

Guess what? Science is backing up the idea of getting rid of Daylight Savings Time. Scientists say our natural circadian rhythm moves in sync with the flow of the earth and thus the universe. The artificial standard messes with that.

By correcting our clocks we'll be back in sync with the flow of the day, which is a good thing according to the experts.

It's been proven the chaos of the small-time change - springing forward - causes a higher jump in heart attacks and workplace accidents due to the lack of sleep during this period.

I'm told some people are grateful for the "extra" hour of sleep in the fall. I've yet to meet one. 

I'd suggest bringing up the subject in Congress but that's akin to taking the subject to the round file to be latter hauled out to the trash heap.  

Unfortunately, it's still the law of the land so if you grudgingly forgot to push your clock forward last night it needs adjusting today... after taking a long nap!