The last time we (temporarily) made daylight saving time permanent occurred in the 1970s, during the OPEC gasoline embargo in 1973-’74. That experience was not enjoyable, and I strongly oppose another attempt at bending the natural order to our will.
I lived in a small town in Maryland and worked in Wilmington, Delaware, 45 miles away. Gas rationing was required in Delaware. In our Maryland town, the single gas station set a daily cap on total gallons sold by 10 a.m. in order to manage limited supply. My wife and I would go to get gas at 5 a.m., going in opposite directions to the gas station.
I drove a car pool with three others, one of whom worked at a DuPont plant in New Jersey, and we had to drop him off near the Delaware Memorial Bridge to catch another ride to New Jersey. As a result, we had to leave home at 6 to get him to his pick-up by 7 a.m. The rest of us arrived in Wilmington around 7:20 a.m.
When we got there, it was still dark, it being winter, and didn’t really get light enough to resemble daylight until almost 9 a.m. The end-of-day trip home was no better. By the time we left Wilmington, during the naturally shortened days of winter, it was again dark, so both daily commutes were made in darkness.
I hope Congress is not dumb enough again to fall for the fallacy of saving daylight by making it permanent.
Warner Price
Harpswell
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