Uncle Sam Says Set Your Clocks Back

I heard this last year (I think on NPR). Apparently the big driving force behind DST is the country's Retail Association. They have found thru expierience and studies that sales go up if there is more light in the evening after people get off work. If its dark outside they just go home to eat dinner and watch TV, but if its light outside they get a hankering to get out of the house and end up going to the Shopping Mall.

Even though people bitch and moan about changing clocks there is no real orgaized opposition to put pressure on the politicians. So the Retailers, with their organized Lobbyists and big campaign donations, win out and we extend this cuckoo idea.

BTW, the year-round DST back in '73 was one of Nixon's ideas to save electricity/fuel during our first "oil crisis".

[painai2]

Living over here in Thailand, I could care less about the time change, except that my favortie shows on Fox News will be starting at a new time come Sunday afternoon.

[Aunty]

Well I don't really know what the reasons are for daylight saving in the US (and I don't really care) but in NZ it is very popular and has this year being extended by three weeks after Parliament was petitioned by the people.

In NZ daylight saving is for two reasons.

1. It allows people to enjoy an extra hours daylight after work to pursue outdoor activities such as entertaining, gardening, eating outside, BBQ, fishing, going to the beach, walking the dog, fucking, whatever, in the warmer late-spring, summer, and early autumn months. (Our retail shops are closed by 6pm).

2. Longer evenings means the lights are on for a shorter period, and people outside doing stuff means that overall less electricity is consumed, so it's eco friendly in that respect.

Daylight saving wouldn't work very well inside the tropics for obvious reasons.

Another story is American retailers associaton lobbied the U.S. Congress to extend daylight savings time past Halloween so they could sell more candy (for the children trick or treating).

... extend daylight savings time past HalloweenI stayed home all Halloween and no trick came knocking on my door :evil3: