03/08/2008
enlarge
Morning Sentinel staff photofrom the Kennebec Journal
QUESTIONS REMAIN
No complaints from those who switched to Somerset County center
Vote on 1 may hurt some in election
Steeple at center of debate in Whitefield
VETERANS REQUIRE ASSISTANCE: Homelessness takes center stage
J.P. DEVINE: Overcome sadness with hope
BASKETBALL: NBA Hall of Famer Barry doles out advice at Thomas College
HIGH SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY: Maranacook sophomore Mace dominates Class B field
All of today's:
News | Sports
from the Kennebec Journal
from the Morning Sentinel
A year later, families await answers on fatalities
Owner of topless coffee shop on the comeback trail
Officials report cheaper, better service after switch
Two people in critical condition
Young Marines stick to program
Issue of homeless veterans at center stage
GIRLS SOCCER STATE CHAMPIONSHIP: Winslow falls to York in Class B
Bard hits her marathon stride
All of today's:
News | Sports
from the Morning Sentinel
Daylight-saving time creates extra work for employees at Day's Jewelers outlets across the state.
The jewelry store, which has its headquarters in Waterville, has to reset its inventory of clocks and watches to catch up with the jump ahead, which this year happens at 2 a.m. Sunday.
"It is generally a very slow process, though," Day's service specialist Arthur Bolduc says. "Oftentimes we get about halfway through it and we miss some."
Bolduc said Day's prides itself in making sure that any customer purchasing a watch or clock goes home with the timepiece showing the correct time.
"We always double check it before we make a sale to a customer," he said. "Very few watches will set themselves."
Call it time management. Or a stitch in time. Or maybe an exercise in time manipulation.
Whatever you call it, daylight-saving time affects just about everybody, at the very least causing people the aggravation of having to reset their clocks and watches.
Yet the impact goes beyond that.
Energy conservation was the reason daylight-saving time first came into existence, adopted in formal fashion in 1918 in the United States.
Studies show consumption does go down, the result of more people being out in the evening, as well as having less reason to flick on a light if they are home.
But the effect of daylight-saving time goes far beyond energy conservation.
University of Maine at Augusta business professor Steve Lovejoy suggests it has a net benefit on the state's tourism industry given the abundance of outdoor recreation possibilities in Maine.
"In terms of outdoor recreation," he said, "moving time forward and having more daylight in the evening means more time to spend riding a bike or fishing."
On the other hand, Lovejoy said, an increase in evening daylight hours tends to hurt the restaurant industry.
People, he said, are more likely to cook outside if the sun is still up, helping merchants that sell gas grills but making waiters and waitresses wish for darker days.
Daylight-saving time, moreover, has a dark side, University of Maine at Farmington psychology professor Stephen Desrochers said.
"For the first few days to as long as maybe a week after daylight-saving time (starts)," he said, "people are a little sleepier than they might otherwise be in the morning and this contributes to a higher rate of (automobile) accidents."
Yet Desrochers is quick to say that people in general seem to enjoy the extra hour of evening light.
"It is a tradition," he said.
"It is a part of a ritual, a sign that spring is coming ... I can see why that would be something that would generate positive feelings for a lot of people."
Greg Fahy, a philosophy professor at UMA, argues that the benefits of daylight-saving time have a positive effect of metaphysical dimensions.
"I think in terms of spring forward or fall back, this is a time when as a people we see that time is not just a given, an absolute," Fahy said. "We can determine what the time is and realize that we are in some sense changing the measurement of time. That is significant I think."
But then daylight-saving time also can be a drag.
Take teenagers. They tend to hate getting up in the morning. Daylight-saving time makes waking up tougher for them -- no sunlight peeking under the blinds to assist the alarm clock.
"They like their sack time," Winslow High School principal Douglas Carville said. "There's no question."
Carville, who also has teenage children at home, notices that some students struggle a bit more to get to school on time -- at least for the first few days of daylight-saving time.
Nevertheless, Winslow High expects students to adhere to the morning bell schedule.
"We will stay true to our policies," he said, but then added, "We also know there are times when we have to weigh other factors in."
Ken Eisen of Railroad Square Cinema does not claim any daylight-saving time expertise.
But he does know that more people come to 9 p.m. showings during the summer when daylight extends late into the evening.
This would suggest that daylight-saving time might help his box office numbers in March and April.
But that would be wrong.
"Spring is our worst time of year -- bar none," Eisen said.
But then Eisen theorized that the novelty effect of longer evening hours might be the reason.
"I think people are just in the frame of mind that they want to be outside," he said.
Maybe, he said, by summer this novelty wears off and people are happy to catch a movie, even when the sun is shining.
Or maybe not.
Maybe we make too much of daylight-saving time.
Bolduc of Day's Jewelers puts it in proper perspective.
Sure, a few watches in the jewelry case might be overlooked. And so a customer might purchase one that's off by an hour. But, really, is that so bad?
"It is just something we make jokes about with our customers," he said. "We say in six months (the watch) will be the right time again ... It is what it is."
Colin Hickey -- 861-9205
chickey@centralmaine.com
Reader comments
Click here to view or add reader comments