Sunday, October 30, 2005

A Great Idea



Benjamin Franklin is credited with conceiving the idea of Daylight Saving Time. At 2:00 am today, we turned all clocks back one hour. That's why even though I sat down to write this at 1:58 am, this will post shortly after 1:00 am. This is one of my favorite holidays. I just gained an extra hour to sleep.

When I was in college, I always made sure I was out drinking to gain another hour before last call. That was always a great night to be in a bar as the clock struck 2:00 am---but only for a moment. That fast, it was 1:00 again. It was a magic moment, and I can only say you needed to experience the unbridled glee and passion around campus.

On the other hand, it was a miserable time when the clock was moved forward, causing the loss of an hour's drinking time. I mean what's a college student to do?


Time Change Riots
Patrons of bars that stay open past 2:00 a.m. lose one
hour of drinking time on the day when Daylight Saving Time springs forward one
hour. This has led to annual problems in numerous locations, and sometimes even
to riots. For example, at a "time disturbance" in Athens, Ohio, site of Ohio
University, over 1,000 students and other late night partiers chanted "Freedom,"
as they threw liquor bottles at the police attempting to control the riot.

---Daylight Saving Time Web Exhibits

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