As far as I am concerned, Sunday marked the best day of the year—not because of the feats of athletic prowess you may have witnessed across the five boroughs, which must've been an impressive sight if you're into running (ick, but congrats if you managed all those miles). For those of us who do not sport, Sunday was amazing because we all got an extra hour of sleep—the best thing, the only thing—and we didn't even have to do anything special to snag that snoozing privilege. No scuttling plans, no going to bed early, nothing but settling into slumber (cozy!) and waking up to find ourselves one hour more rested than usual (amazing!).
This incredible deal comes courtesy of daylight saving time, which stole a sleeping hour from all of us when it began on March 11th, and gave it back at 2 a.m. on Sunday. Some people hate daylight saving time because it seeds unnecessary confusion into our daily lives: There exists no scientific reason why we ambitiously push our clocks forward during the spring and then, having learned better over the intervening months, dial them back during the fall.
The NY Times has explained daylight saving as a capitalist construct: "The general concept is to move an hour of sunlight from the early morning, when many would sleep through it, to the evening, when you could most likely do more with the light," like spending your money. Recall that time, whether you invest it in work or leisure pursuits, is money. You pay to do activities outside your house—think sporting events, drives, camping in the summer—whereas hibernating is effectively free. And while many have attributed daylight saving time to farmers' preferences, this group apparently does not appreciate the arbitrary scheduling change. Which makes sense, because having to get up when it's still dark is a disorienting and, to my mind, unnatural obligation. I think we should all sleep until it's at least light out, and then for a few more hours after that, considering the sun is often trying to get up at like 6 a.m.
Anyway, all of this was just a roundabout way of distracting you from the other side of the extra hour coin, which is just darkness for as far as the eye can see: The sun will set at 4:48 p.m. this afternoon, and furthermore, the sunset will creep steadily closer to lunchtime as we lurch into winter. Starting on December 3, until December 12, the sun will go to sleep at 4:28 p.m. every day. Good job, sun!
I accept that most people will not be happy with this news. I am used to that complaint. To you I say, there is no such thing as a free lunch. You always knew this was coming. Step into the abyss with me, friend. Just close your eyes, pull up the covers, and let The Darkness take you.
