In my November newsletter I commented about Daylight Savings Time and asked my subscribers how they felt about this twice-yearly change of the clocks. Wow---did I hear back from you! I received so many emails that I couldn't possibly respond to all of them, so I decided to share the results here on my blog.
So here are the numbers. This is in no way a scientific poll (please don't hold me to that standard), it's just the feelings that came through in the messages that were sent to me in response to the question, "How do you feel about Daylight Savings Time--Love it or Hate it?" My criteria in compiling this list was whether the person used the word love or hate, or a similarly strong emotion (strongly dislike, really really like it, etc). In the neutral category were those who expressed frustration with changing their clocks but overall went along with it. Some expressed both pros and cons, so I included those in the neutral category as well.
Hate it - 60%
Love it - 14%
Neutral - 24%
About 1% expressed happiness that they live in a place that does not observe DST. One or two people wished we would stay on DST all year, while others said we should just stay on Standard time all year. Those who loved the later sunshine often said they were gardeners or night owls. The "early to bed, early to rise" crowd, hated the way the time change messed up their circadian rhythms and sleep patterns.
A couple of readers quoted the Native American proverb: "Only a white man could think that cutting the foot off a blanket and sewing it to the other end will make the blanket longer." A lot of wisdom in that.
So there you have it! I'd be interested to know if these percentages hold true nationwide, and not just among book readers who happen to subscribe to my newsletter. If they do, I wonder why our government hasn't seriously considered doing away with DST. One article I read suggested that it's due to heavy lobbying by professional sports, concert promoters, and amusement activities that feel they benefit by later summer hours. I have no idea if that's true, and I'm not political-animal enough to investigate. I think I've got my hands full with writing three mystery series, but I may have just come up with an idea for a new murder case .... hmmm ....
So here are the numbers. This is in no way a scientific poll (please don't hold me to that standard), it's just the feelings that came through in the messages that were sent to me in response to the question, "How do you feel about Daylight Savings Time--Love it or Hate it?" My criteria in compiling this list was whether the person used the word love or hate, or a similarly strong emotion (strongly dislike, really really like it, etc). In the neutral category were those who expressed frustration with changing their clocks but overall went along with it. Some expressed both pros and cons, so I included those in the neutral category as well.
Hate it - 60%
Love it - 14%
Neutral - 24%
About 1% expressed happiness that they live in a place that does not observe DST. One or two people wished we would stay on DST all year, while others said we should just stay on Standard time all year. Those who loved the later sunshine often said they were gardeners or night owls. The "early to bed, early to rise" crowd, hated the way the time change messed up their circadian rhythms and sleep patterns.
A couple of readers quoted the Native American proverb: "Only a white man could think that cutting the foot off a blanket and sewing it to the other end will make the blanket longer." A lot of wisdom in that.
So there you have it! I'd be interested to know if these percentages hold true nationwide, and not just among book readers who happen to subscribe to my newsletter. If they do, I wonder why our government hasn't seriously considered doing away with DST. One article I read suggested that it's due to heavy lobbying by professional sports, concert promoters, and amusement activities that feel they benefit by later summer hours. I have no idea if that's true, and I'm not political-animal enough to investigate. I think I've got my hands full with writing three mystery series, but I may have just come up with an idea for a new murder case .... hmmm ....
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