Spring Forward? Fall Back? What’s It Really All About?

There are a lot of us in this world who, whether we admit it or not, like to find things to grumble about. One of those things that we feel gives us reason to gripe is coming up this weekend.

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Officially, at 2 a.m. on the second Sunday every March, we turn our clocks ahead one hour to mark the return of Daylight Saving Time.

Then, come the first Sunday in November, we will reverse the process, moving our clocks back one hour to usher in Standard Time.

In the United States, the only states that do not "Spring Forward" are Arizona (except for the Navajo Nation) and Hawaii.

For the rest of us, the semi-annual ritual raises the questions, Why are we doing this? and Why should we keep doing this?

We have been changing time twice a year in the U.S. in some form or fashion since 1918.

If there's a primary reason for Daylight Time, it could be attributed to farmers and others who prefer to have more daylight at the end of the day - to work if you're a farmer or for outdoor activities if you're not.

Everybody didn't make the time change at the same time until 1966. I remember growing up there would be periods of time in the spring and fall when the times of the TV shows would change when some parts of the country changed and others didn't.

We tried longer periods of Daylight Time during the energy crisis of the mid 70s. That was when we had DST in January and sunrise wasn't until 8:30 a.m.

The current format of Springing Forward and Falling Back has been in place since 2007.

But, until something changes, we will continue the March-November routine - and grumble all the way.