DST Fair Redistribution Council
spring 2009 | newspaper advertising campaign and proposal

When Daylight Saving Time began in 1784, it was to help us squeeze more sunlight out of a day during dark winter months. But in present day, for those of us who don’t depend on sunlight to complete our daily work, DST now basically boils down to having one extra hour of sleep in the fall and one less hour in the spring. This March, as I groggily pulled myself out of bed to make breakfast and walk my dog, I thought about how missing an hour was particularly annoying in the context of the MFA thesis crunch. Then I got distracted online. And, two hours later, I realized I should probably get to work.

I considered making a list of what I will do with my “saved” hour, eight months from now on November 1st. But a funny thing about time, is that no matter how much we try to save, we can’t really save it for later, like a bank of hours where we can make deposits and withdrawals as we please. So just for fun, I made a new proposal. Instead of cashing in our saved hour all at once, we should spread it out over the remaining 364 days of the year—we are, after all, always mumbling about how we do not have enough time in a day.

These newspaper ads promote my idea—sponsored by, of course, the DST Fair Re-distribution Council. Imagine an extra 9.89 seconds added to each of those remaining days. If you were a world class sprinter, you could run a hundred meters in that time—a silver medal at the last Olympics. For the rest of us, 9.89 seconds could provide time for an extended embrace with a loved one. Or not missing that green light on the way to the market.

Or, for those who would still spend it sleeping, finishing a dream.