}

Sunday, October 01, 2006

Spring Ahead

New Zealand went onto Daylight Saving time overnight, meaning our clocks did the “spring ahead” thing. This change happened in the middle of school holidays, which will make it much easier for mums and dads to get the kiddies adjusted to the new time before school resumes.

Even so, every time the clocks change, now and in autumn, people complain about how hard it is for them to adjust. I don’t usually share that problem, so I admit I don’t really understand why others do.

But I understand even less why people can’t remember which way to turn their clocks. Americans, in particular, have no excuse with their “spring ahead, fall back” phrase. In New Zealand, where the season between summer and winter is called autumn, it’s understandable why people don’t remember.

But maybe the larger question has nothing to do with why some people have so much trouble adjusting to the time change, or why others can’t remember which way to turn their clocks. Maybe the real question is why we change them at all any more.

If we didn’t change the clocks, though, what would we all use to remind us to check smoke detector batteries?

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