Beats The Daylight(s) Outta Me

I no longer bother trying to understand the reasons why we still observe Daylight Saving Time. Is it for the farmers, sporting events, retailers, to save energy? Not sure. And I think the pointy-heads are still undecided on whether the practice is formally expressed as daylight saving time, daylights saving time, daylight savings time, daylights savings time, or one of the many other variations; hence I will go with the acronym, DST.

I do know this, though: you send the wrong message to fastidious types like me (and we are many) if you're a business owner and the clock where you conduct your business is wrong days or weeks after DST. Like an empty soap dispenser in a restaurant men's room, a retailer who closes five minutes before a posted time, or an unshovelled winter walkway outside of a bakery, a business that is well past due on DST begs the question: "What else is being ignored?"

Is this really such an onerous task?

The last gym I belonged to (many years ago) had one of those huge ostentatious wall clocks in the foyer. Sure, changing it would have required a stepladder or broom stick, but the time was typically off by an hour over a month after it had officially changed. Very telling and I wasn't surprised when the place went belly up before its third anniversary. If small details are being overlooked it's not a stretch to conclude that many larger issues are being mishandled and some of these may be important.

I don't have a formal list, but I can recall several occasions over the years where clocks displayed the incorrect time long after etiquette would dictate that they should've been changed. While this type of mismanagement is questionable for a small business, it's absolutely unfathomable for a government office that deals with the public, yet I've noticed the lapse there too. Then again, I guess that should come as no surprise as it's likely not in any civil servant's job description.

No, it isn't the greatest issue of this era, but the little things can be your pleasure or your undoing, especially in a hyper competitive marketplace.

Time's up.