Most of us slept through this magic time change and woke feeling better-rested. Some of us who forgot the time change even showed up to church an hour early. And, of course, some of the younger folks used that extra hour in the night to stay up later than usual or extend a curfew. I remember those days.
However, a few people among us, those hearty folks who work third shift, witnessed the time change and lived to tell about it.
I cannot help but wonder what happens during that repeat hour?
Do the clocks on our cell phones, cable boxes and computers just stay stuck on 2 a.m. for an hour or do they go through the whole 2 a.m. to 3 a.m. sequence, twice?
As I learned from a variety of sites, there are actually government regulations covering how this change takes place.
When standard time kicks in at exactly 2 a.m., time officially “falls back” one hour. The digital clocks should be going from 1:59 a.m. Daylight Savings Time (DST) to 1:00 a.m. Standard Time (ST).
So how is an emergency run with the EMS or the police recorded if it happens during that mystical double hour?
I asked Linda Kankey, who has been an emergency dispatcher with Mad River Twp. for years. She told me the dispatcher would make a notation if the time is in DST or ST for that one odd hour. She explained that most digital clocks automatically change, which makes it easier.
“Hopefully everyone will be asleep and not bothering anybody,” she said, and added that she was glad she was not working that night.
Evidently, that time of night was chosen for the change for a good reason. Most of us are sleeping.
So I am wondering, do third shift workers get paid for nine hours instead of the usual eight? Do they get paid for only seven hours in the spring?
I asked around a bit on this one and got a variety of answers. It seems that it varies by employer, and if a person is paid by salary or by the hour.
The U.S. Department of Labor is all over this one. Employees must be paid for the number of hours of work, but contractual arrangements can be made to balance it since that magical hour disappears in the spring. So if you don’t know, ask your supervisor. The details are probably posted somewhere or in your contract.
However, paid extra or not, those who worked overnight Saturday night will need some extra recovery time this week. Working nine hours instead of the regular eight hours is not fun. I feel especially sorry for nurses at hospitals who had to work a 13-hour shift instead of the already long 12-hour shift. They must be exhausted. God bless them.
Since people everywhere will be resetting the old fashioned clocks, I’m thinking this is a good time of year to also remind people about ladder safety. Perhaps this is a good time for the younger generation to volunteer to help elderly friends and neighbors to get their clocks reset. Think about it.
As I learned a few years ago, Parker’s Clock Service on Rebert Pike is extra busy after a time change. Changing the time on a delicate antique or grandfather clock is not so easy. Sometimes it takes an expert.
The day after a time change is probably the only day some automobile owners actually get the manual out of the glove compartment. It’s also the day we wish we’d kept the manual for the new microwave or coffee maker.
Hopefully, by today or Tuesday all the clocks will be reset and we can relax until it is time to “spring forward” again. That is unless there is a baby in the house. It will take a bit longer for the little ones to reset their inner clocks.
There is one more thing that must be mentioned before I finish. Now is the perfect time to change the batteries in smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors. As our local emergency departments tell us, changing the batteries twice a year is a good habit to get into.
The warning these alarms give us may be the most valuable time of all: Time to escape from a fire or carbon monoxide.
Don’t put it off. Do it today.
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