As
the date arrives, and clocks are being adjusted, I often chuckle
at so many of the stories found in all corners of the internet.
The
reasons why daylight savings is a good idea.
The
reasons why daylight savings is a bad idea.
The
reasons why this sate or that country doesn’t use daylight savings
at all.
The
reasons why daylight savings started.
The
reasons why daylight savings should end.
And
it’s not the number of stories about daylight savings, or the
slight variation of a daylight savings theme, that creates the
laughter on my end. It’s that the stories are exactly the same
as the ones we read roughly six months ago. And roughly six months
before that. And… repeat. Year after year, twice per year, slightly
adjusted based only on whether the change is a spring forward
or a fall back move.
Fine,
it’s not exactly every six months. It’s also not just daylight
savings. For me, it’s the stories that we see, repeated time and
again and presented as if brand new, though presenting no new
twists or turns or details. Just the same stuff over and over
again.
Consider
the lottery.
Get
the jackpots high enough and suddenly the news is covering all
the excitement. And they do it as if they’ve never previously
told us the top mistakes lottery winners make, the first steps
every lottery winner should take, or the best ways to use lottery
winnings.
I
hate it.
Ok,
hate is a strong word. Probably not even the right word.
But
I don’t even click the links anymore, since there are only so
many times you need to hear not to tell anyone that you’ve won
for as long as possible, that it’s important to have a good team
of accountants and lawyers in place before you make your claim,
and to think before making any silly purchases. Much the same
way as learning about utilizing daylight hours better and the
ways that relates to energy usage, we’ve seen this all before.
It’s
not that the information is wrong, instead it’s that the information
is stale plus the source wants us to believe it’s new.
My
wife often says the reason she doesn’t read my books with any
regularity is because she’s heard the stories before. All of them.
Several times.
She
hears them when they first pop into my head and I’m working on
developing them. She hears them when I’m producing rough drafts
and kicking around older thoughts I might toss aside or newer
ideas I might incorporate. She hears them when essays get finalized
and posted on my web site or when manuscripts move along to final
drafts.
She
hears them. Over and over, perhaps dozens of times in some cases,
long before the package containing my new release arrives at the
house. Nice to see the book… congratulations to me… but yeah,
she’s not settling in with a copy unless she can’t get to sleep.
Fair enough.
Daylight
savings means different things to different people. Standing in
the dark and waiting for a school bus. An extra hour of light
before sunset. Whether or not you need the headlights when you
drive home. Just a few ideas.
But…
until the day arrives when daylight savings disappears entirely…
it’s not a new story.
Now,
does anyone know a place nearby where I can grab some lottery
tickets?