We chose change when Northwestern Ontario decided to remain on daylight saving time. We thought it was a great idea to be at the same time as both Winnipeg and Thunder Bay, but were we ready for the confusion that erupted?
I realize that parents are celebrating not having to adjust bedtime routines for their children. They are pleased that wake-up time will remain constant. But were they ready for changes in television watching?
It is a classic problem with living on different schedules than our neighbours. All our television is now backed up by one hour. That is confusing. Our families’ viewing patterns have been thrown into turmoil for five months.
Last Saturday, when our bridge group stopped for coffee, we had to explain to our American friends that bridge would now begin at 11:30 a.m. for them on Saturdays rather than 12:30 p.m. For our bridge friend who travels to the Falls on Thursday afternoon to play the game, he doesn’t have to arrive until 1 p.m. Our times remain constant.
It is just one of the adjustments we need to make with our decision to remain on daylight saving time while our friends to the south fell back to Central Standard Time.
It was Sunday night when we turned on the television to watch 60 Minutes that we realized that the program was not scheduled to start until 7:30 a.m. instead of the more usual time of 6:30. The Sunday Morning program did not begin until 9 a.m. instead of the usual 8 a.m.
Our primetime shows now appear an hour later. And The Late Show is now late. Even the 10 p.m. news doesn’t happen until 11 p.m. Thank you for PVR’s to record all those shows so that we can now watch them a day later.
It took a spell before all our electronic gadgets realized that we were not on Central Standard Time. I woke up to find my digital watch, cellphone and computer had all adjusted automatically to Central Standard Time.
Two hours later, those gadgets realized they were sporting the wrong time and corrected it.
Mornings will be getting darker, and sunrise will not happen until after 9 a.m. in late December, and sunset will be shortly after 5 p.m. In Kenora, sunrise will be 15 minutes later.
The parents who are excited today about not changing the bedtimes of their kids will be more worried about them catching buses in total darkness. It is all the blessings of change.
