Daylight savings time already?

[Kotowboy]

No unfortunately not.

[Orbert]

To be fair, the concept isn't exactly simple, at least not in an obvious way.  But come on, my dad explained it to me when I was five years old, and I got it.

[gmillerdrake]

I'm running a trail half marathon Sunday and the race is an hour and a half away. Just close enough not to need to get a hotel room but far enough away to where "losing" that hour of sleep is going to suck!

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

It always amazes me how many people don't understand the concept of Daylight Savings Time.  Every year, somebody will post that stupid gif with the Indian claiming that white men think cutting a foot off the end of a blanket and sewing it onto the other end will make it a longer blanket, or whatever the hell it says.  Someone will say "I don't get it.  The day isn't longer."  No, that is not what Daylight Savings Time is for.

Here's how I understand it:

By moving the clock forward one hour during warmer months, you get to enjoy an extra hour of daylight per day.  Instead of the sun rising at freakin' 5:00 in the morning and waking you up, you save an hour until the end of the day.  The sun comes up at 6:00 instead.  If you don't get up that early, whatever, the sun still comes up an hour later and that's good for most people.  But in the evening, instead of the sun going down at 8:00, it stays light until 9:00.  It's warm outside, so it makes sense to have an extra hour of daylight, the hour you saved from the morning.  Stay at the beach or the park another hour, or just hang out in the backyard another hour.  The day doesn't magically become longer, but you do have more usable daylight.

The times I've cited obviously change throughout the year, and this doesn't apply to everyone (people who work third shift, I've been there; nothing can help you), but the concept is sound.

You can just get up an hour earlier. That's what's happening anyway, so why call it "savings"?

[Dark Castle]

Or you can just cover your windows with curtains like a sane person and continue sleeping.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

^ That also. Maybe I just don't care about it because the sun doesn't really matter to me, I usually prefer the dark actually.

[Orbert]

You can get up whenever you want.  The point is that most people live and work regular hours, and those regular hours are now one hour earlier as compared to the actual diurnal cycle.  If you work 8 to 5, you can't just come in at 7 and leave at 4 and say "Hey, I live my life one hour ahead of you.  I don't have to change my clock."  Since that's what most people would prefer, it's easier to actually make the official time one hour later.