5 ms·

Why are we making DST permanent rather than making the standard time permanent?

mminer237 6y ago
People like the sunshine. Getting rid of DST means you're always getting off work at 5:00 either in the dark or an hour or two before dark. Making it always DST means 5 o'clock will be before sunset year-round.
- briandear 6y ago
  Why is five o’clock the arbitrary getting off work time?
  - mminer237 6y ago
    Historical reasons: American society has settled on 40 hours being the appropriate amount of work for the average person. Starting near the beginning of the day at 9:00 meant 8 hours later people would get off at 5:00. I've heard Ford started that convention, but I haven't really researched it. But I think business hours are now very firmly entrenched in American society and that it would be very difficult to change that convention.
theodric 6y ago
Light in the evening when you can use it, rather than during the day when you're stuck on conference calls. Also, 'standard' offsets to GMT are fairly arbitrary anyway. We're not going to get employers to change operating hours, so it's paradoxically simpler to change the hours themselves.
- globular-toast 6y ago
  What about all the people who work outside and need sunlight?
  - AnimalMuppet 6y ago
    Let them change their start time. (They're probably doing that anyway - if you work outside and need sunlight, you're not starting at the same hour in March and June.)
    - globular-toast 6y ago
      If they can change their start time, so can you!
      - theodric 6y ago
        That assumes a tremendous amount of scheduling freedom on the part of the average retail worker or office drone, which I do not believe to be a correct assumption. Business Opens At 8 (or 9) is so ingrained as to be unlikely to change. Tradespeople - particularly contractors - on the other hand, have a fair degree of freedom to decide when to start work, and they tend to start when the light starts (or shortly before) and stop aroundish the time the light fades. It doesn't really matter to them what the clock says, yet we continue to see arguments that DST is evil because it forces tradies to start at times that don't correspond with the light. To that I say, a) bullshit, b) prove it.
      - AnimalMuppet 6y ago
        I can, and do. What's your point?

People like the sunshine. Getting rid of DST means you're always getting off work at 5:00 either in the dark or an hour or two before dark. Making it always DST means 5 o'clock will be before sunset year-round.

briandear 6y ago
Why is five o’clock the arbitrary getting off work time?
- mminer237 6y ago
  Historical reasons: American society has settled on 40 hours being the appropriate amount of work for the average person. Starting near the beginning of the day at 9:00 meant 8 hours later people would get off at 5:00. I've heard Ford started that convention, but I haven't really researched it. But I think business hours are now very firmly entrenched in American society and that it would be very difficult to change that convention.

theodric 6y ago

Light in the evening when you can use it, rather than during the day when you're stuck on conference calls. Also, 'standard' offsets to GMT are fairly arbitrary anyway. We're not going to get employers to change operating hours, so it's paradoxically simpler to change the hours themselves.

globular-toast 6y ago
What about all the people who work outside and need sunlight?
- AnimalMuppet 6y ago
  Let them change their start time. (They're probably doing that anyway - if you work outside and need sunlight, you're not starting at the same hour in March and June.)
  - globular-toast 6y ago
    If they can change their start time, so can you!
    - theodric 6y ago
      That assumes a tremendous amount of scheduling freedom on the part of the average retail worker or office drone, which I do not believe to be a correct assumption. Business Opens At 8 (or 9) is so ingrained as to be unlikely to change. Tradespeople - particularly contractors - on the other hand, have a fair degree of freedom to decide when to start work, and they tend to start when the light starts (or shortly before) and stop aroundish the time the light fades. It doesn't really matter to them what the clock says, yet we continue to see arguments that DST is evil because it forces tradies to start at times that don't correspond with the light. To that I say, a) bullshit, b) prove it.
    - AnimalMuppet 6y ago
      I can, and do. What's your point?