Time to enjoy brighter days

It’s that time of the year that gives me a little extra spring in my step.
I love every year when March rolls around and Daylight Saving Time goes into effect. Most of the United States began DST at 2 a.m. this past Sunday. 
Even though there are still piles of snow dotting the countryside, I feel a refreshing splash of spring hitting me in the face thanks to the simple little act of cranking the clocks ahead by an hour.
In my research, I’ve found that the main purpose of DST, which is also referred to as Summer Time, is to make better use of daylight. Basically we’re moving an hour of daylight from the morning to the evening. 
A poll conducted by the U.S. Department of Transportation indicated that Americans liked DST because “there is more light in the evenings and they can do more in the evenings.” 
According to some sources, DST saves energy. Studies done back in 1975 showed that DST trims the entire country’s electricity usage by a small but significant amount, about one percent each day, because less electricity is used for lighting and appliances. 
The idea of daylight saving was first conceived by Benjamin Franklin in 1784. It became law 100 years ago this month. It was brought back during World War II, and then permanently in 1966, and expanded three times, including 2005, from about six months of the calendar in 1966 to about eight months of today’s calendar. There was no federal law regarding DST from 1945-1966. 
Popular Science Magazine has pointed out several common myths related to DST. Some of them include: DST was meant to help farmers, extra daylight makes us healthier and happier, it benefits businesses and standard time is standard. The magazine pointed out that DST stretches over eight months of the year.
Some opponents of DST think it should be adopted as the year-round standard time.  Others have argued that DST is the greatest continuing fraud ever perpetrated on the American people. They cite the energy savings are minimal, DST is bad for your health, and time shifts are bad for your productivity. I’m certainly not going to get into that debate right now. 
Daylight saving is one of those weird quirks of the Western World. Most countries outside Europe and North America don’t take part. By the way, Arizona and Hawaii do not currently recognize DST. Florida wants to make a full-time switch to daylight saving. 
I guess the root question is, would you rather have a darker morning and brighter evening than you do today? 
We can enjoy the extra daylight until the clocks revert back one hour on Nov. 4.
As we debate the value of DST, let’s go in hot pursuit of enjoying much brighter days ahead of us in the coming months. It’s the least we can do until things get dark again in October.