Hoosiers Ate My Brain

What is with the DST Freakshow?

I have never seen a festival of idiocy like I've seen in the Indiana media about the upcoming shift to Daylight Saving Time this weekend. Today, the big news? That *bars* are upset they will lose an hour of business at between 2:00 and 3:00 a.m. on Saturday night. The economic impact for this bar hour snafu across all of central Indiana? $250,000. That means, say, across 500 establishments in central Indiana, we're talking about potential loss of a whopping $500 in loss each. Of course, no one takes into account that the vast majority of establishments serving alcohol (because this data did come from an alcohol distributor's association) close at or well before 2:00 a.m.

Every doom-and-gloomer in the state is on the radio (or blogging, Doug Masson!) about the hassle, cost, and potential disaster associated with springing clocks ahead. Who doesn't know how to reset the *%*! time? Factory workers on a.m. radio yesterday lamented about mistakes from those suffering from losing that hour of sleep. (Hello? It's on a Sunday morning.) People try to figure out how to reset their Outlook. (Isn't it amazing how there's already a way to do this?) Others simply worry because no one is telling them what to do.

OK, here's what you do. Just set your clock ahead one hour when you go to bed on Saturday night. Voila! You've sprung ahead (for the springtime, get it?) Nothing earth shattering. Every other state in the country does it (practically). I know change is difficult for the average stubborn Hoosier, but try it. It's fun! (I can only imagine the pissing and moaning we're going to hear for the next month as it's dark again in the morning.)

In a normal year, news from The Final Four would be drowning out this controversy. As it is, I think the local paper has run more scare stories on the time change than this, you know, little basketball tournament we happen to be hosting. Maybe it will drown out all the negative reaction to the new IU basketball coach. Come on people, let's not all prove the world right about Hoosiers hicks by showing we're too stupid and scared to to figure out Daylight Saving Time.

posted by braingirl @ 11:17 AM