Jeff B. Flinn
Take It Or Leave It 

Ahhhh, daylight-saving time. My favorite time of the year. Every time I turn my clock forward, I privately applaud the brain trust that switched our country to DST.

Way to go, guys!

A new study out says daylight-saving time now actually costs the public money, as air conditioning units have replaced incandescent light as the biggest use of spring/summer electricity. And what did the study say is the cost per household of adapting to DST?

$3.19 per month. I guess that leaves me with two questions: first, where do I send my $3.19; and second, is that check, cash or money order?

Ever since I was a youngster toiling in the late-afternoon sun in Ohio, I’ve enjoyed DST. There were few things better as a child than playing with friends, running home to eat dinner with the family, and then sprinting outdoors to finish up that pressing game of Capture The Flag, or whatever outdoor activity we’d be engaged in.

I’ve always hated winter. Freezing temperatures, snow and sleet aside, my primary objection to winter is lack of sunlight. Sure the sun is up bright and early when it’s time to go to school or work, but that’s “wasted sunlight” in my book. Always has been.

I have a fifth-grade daughter, Kayla, whom I wake up every morning at 5:15. I feed her, iron her clothes and make sure she’s “out the door” by 6:25 a.m. to catch her bus. It’s still generally dark then, and our porchlight stays on until she and our neighborhood kids climb into the bus.

The change to DST will “leave them in the dark,” so to speak, as they’ll stand on the sidewalk and board the bus in the morning’s darkness … which they do now. No big deal, really. It’s dark prior to DST, and it’ll be dark during DST.

Under DST, kids’ attitudes change … for the better. As soon as they get home, they want to get their homework done and eat supper, quickly, so they can get outside and play with their friends. In November, December and January, the heart of pre-DST time, it’s dark by 5:30, 5:45 p.m., thereby eliminating any desire to be outdoors.

Give me the bright sunshine at 7:30 p.m. Let me feel the warm spring and summer sun on my face, so I can go throw a Frisbee in Converse City Park, or take my dogs for a post-dinner stroll without having to carry a flashlight. Schooling my two sons in street basketball (remember the “No blood, no foul” days?) is much easier under the sun’s light at 8 p.m. than under a streetlight pre-DST. Other-wise, my kids don’t get to see my miraculous Ginobili-esque drives to the basket that continue to make me such a feared threat in the schoolyard court … Ahem …

Back to reality – daylight-saving time is a parents’ dream, as well. After dinner is served and the table cleared, we usher the kids outside and give my wife some “mommy down-time.” When it gets dark and they come in … time for bed!

Under DST, kids are less inclined to be couch-potatoes or game-potatoes. During non-DST time, when it’s dark outside by 5:30 and 6 p.m., the kids tend to want to spend every non-study and non-chore moment on a computer game, on the PS3 or watching “the idiot box” (a.k.a. television).

For me, daylight-saving time is a 100 percent winner, a no-brainer. Hands down. In fact, if anyone ever proposed “DST time, all the time,” I’d be the first to sign that petition.

Sunlight — bring it on!

Jeff B. Flinn is managing editor of the Herald. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it … but don’t expect him to answer any e-mails until after the sun goes down.