Daylight saving time ending Sunday

Published 9:34 pm Thursday, October 31, 2019

Daylight saving time is almost over. On Sunday, clocks will need to fall back an hour, putting them in line with the standard time.

Every time the time changes, there are grumbles over whether the time actually needs to be changed in the first place, but the question of daylight saving time isn’t actually a priority to constituents, according to District 92 Rep. Becky Currie, R-Brookhaven.

“I have not had one constituent call me about it, so I am assuming it is not big on their priority list,” Currie said.

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Currie said the reasons don’t matter much anymore, but there hasn’t been enough support to make a change. Two bills in the legislature — one to choose daylight saving time as a year-long standard, and the other to choose standard time — died in committee in the 2019 legislative session.

As for Currie, her feelings on daylight saving time are mixed.

“I look forward to the time change, and then when it gets dark at 5 p.m. I begin to hate it,” she said. “Like everyone else, I would get more done at home after work if it didn’t get dark early.”

When asked, several individuals in Brookhaven echoed Currie’s sentiment.

“I would like it to stay daylight more all the time and not get dark at 5 o’clock,” said Tammy Ezell with the Lincoln County Public Library.

“I like more sunlight,” Tiffany Sullivan agreed.

“I like this time,” Debbie Barfoot said. “I don’t like the time that’s coming up. I don’t like to fall back. It gets dark too early.”

Loretta Harveston with Vibe downtown echoed the sentiment. “It gets dark too early.” Her co-worker, Monica Webb agreed.

“It just gets dark early,” she said. “Especially when you work downtown. We close at 6, and it’s dark.”

However, there are only so many hours of sunlight in the day — and in the winter there is a premium on light. Making it lighter in the evening will leave it darker in the morning.

“The little kids up there at Wesson have to get in the school bus at dark, and that ain’t right either,” Judy’s Discount Shoe Store owner Irene Meredith said.

Some people also have positive associations with daylight saving time coming to an end, because it means holiday season is right around the corner.

“I love it when daylight saving time comes to an end,” Melanie Poole said. “It means that my favorite holidays are coming soon — Black Friday and Christmas.”