People have argued about daylight savings for as long as I can remember. There are opinions about springing forward, and falling back. Fortunately there is often grace for those who are late to work or sleepy at supper. We can cut one another slack as our bodies and brains adjust. 

 

It shows up as well when folks jet across the country. I remember a vacation our family took that left small children in a puddle. The first plane ride across zones was not bad, and even the second. But when the ticket agent announced an overly full cabin and offered free vouchers to the first six volunteers John and I leaped from our seats. Those would come in handy, so we grabbed our belongings, deplaned, and sluggishly boarded a later flight. Fine in theory, but when our four year old was asked to carry her back pack from the gate to the bus to the parking garage she had reached her limit. John was of course lugging a donkey's load of suitcases, while I had the baby and a few carry ons. Our older kids soldiered forward. The clock said it was twelve, our bodies insisted that it was three am and a small child closed the discussion by dissolving on the sidewalk. We barely made it. 

 

Currently we have a marriage group that includes four continents and as many time zones, which it turns out have their own schedules for adjusting to the swiveling seasons. This means that within our current meetings one couple starts at 6:15 am and another ends at just shy of midnight. John and I are sheepishly comfortably in the middle. Things will edge back from ridiculous when Europe turns her clocks back later next month.

 

It is wearing when the rules change. Our girls in Europe try to keep track of curfews and border closings that waffle erratically. We on the east coast have shifting standards as well, as the counties try to respond to spikes and jabs. 

 

The funny thing is, no one is actually wrong. The health officials are trying to keep the population safe. The states that support the evaporation of one hour each March are interested in protecting school children walking in the dark. Even when I arrive across the continent and my watch doesn't agree with the time pieces on the wall, it is not out of obstinance. 

 

It reminds me that when anyone describes their experience and it doesn't align with my own, it need not prove that either of us are wicked.