I don’t know about you, although I don’t even notice the “rewind”, it takes me days to recover from the “leap forward”. Every year, Americans perform the biannual ritual of setting the clock forward or forward one hour, depending on the season. While it doesn’t seem like a big problem, for many it’s quite annoying. Arriving early or late for church services, having to find instruction manuals yet again to remember how to reset clocks on electronics like TVs, stoves, and of course, that pesky clock in your car, or just feeling like things are “out of place”. Wack” are just a few of the annoyances we endure each year.

So who decided this was a good idea?

Actually, the idea was first proposed by Benjamin Franklin to make better use of sunlight. Of course, the idea didn’t catch on right away, but it was reintroduced during World War I. This time, a law was passed, but it was quickly repealed due to its lack of popularity. Some states continued to turn the clocks back, but there was little consistency from state to state.

Enter Congress. The Uniform Time Act of 1966 created daylight saving time in 1966 and today we still move our clocks with the sun at the same time and on the same Sundays each year.

Because?

According to the Department of Transportation, daylight saving time helps us to:

• conserve energy
• reduce traffic accidents
• and encourages economic activity

Retailers love it… farmers hate it! And studies are mixed regarding its effectiveness.

Power saving or not, there’s a reason for the time change that neither pilot would dispute. That extra hour of daylight during the nicer times of the year gives each of us a chance to kick back after work and watch the sunset from 2,000 feet.

Enjoy extra daylight in the sky after work this summer!