Daylight Savings Time Without Sight
by Beth
The conversation during a walk home in the sunshine with friends Saturday centered on Daylight Savings Time. “This time tomorrow, it’ll be dark already,” one friend moaned. We reminded ourselves to set our clocks back, appreciated out loud the extra hour of sleep we’d get, considered going out again later and staying up extra late to celebrate. We went on and on with all we could do with that extra hour. “But it’ll be dark when we get home from work Monday,” the one who’d moaned about the 4:30 sunset reminded us. “I hate coming home from work in the dark!”
Conversation switched to shortened days, early dusk and darkness until my husband Mike piped up. “Oh, yeah, here we are complaining about the dark. Beth must be rolling her eyes!” We all laughed, and I used a handy “woke” comeback Mike came up with a few weeks ago. “You guys and your sight privilege,” I said with a smirk. And yes, I still can roll my eyes. So I did!
I can tell the difference between night and day, especially when I’m outside. Dark has a feel to it. And in some ways, a smell, too. When inside, if I’m near a window, I can feel the sunshine. Mike was right to point out that it getting darker earlier doesn’t bother me much, though. I just have to remember that it’s dark for everybody else an hour earlier now, too. Knowing that drivers are in the dark earlier means I need to wear a brightly-colored coat when I’m outside in the late afternoon, not just at night like I do at other times of year. I want drivers, bicyclists, and skateboarders to be able to see me when I’m crossing the street. But to me? A small price to pay to get that extra hour of sleep every Fall!