There are certain things that people in the UP love to complain about.
Tourists.
The Seney Stretch.
Those uncouth few who allow the word “pay-stee” to pass through their lips.
But you know what else people in the UP really like to complain about? The weekends when the time changes.
If you were on social media at all the past few days you know what I’m talking about. You could see everything from people complaining about being tired to people calling out others for using the Cher meme, when everyone knows the Cher meme is for the fall and Devo’s for spring.
The time change really does bring out the best in people, doesn’t it?
The UP’s in a very unique situation regarding time and time changes because we’re literally cut in half by time zones. Eleven counties of the UP are on the extreme edge of the Eastern Time Zone, while the other four were apparently sacrificed to the gods of the Central Time Zone.
How weird is it? You could stand on the Marquette County line, walk five steps, and…poof. You’ve time traveled.
And you wouldn’t even need a Delorean.
Now, I get that the time change wasn’t fun. But I’d like you to think about this–if we didn’t do the time warp this past weekend, if we didn’t switch to Daylight Savings Time, the sun would soon be rising just before 5am in Marquette. And if you live in Menominee County, you’d see it coming up around 4am. That’s just not right. And that wouldn’t be the only problem.
There’s even anecdotal evidence that not switching to Daylight Savings Time leads to an increase in car-deer accidents.
And if there’s one thing we DON’T need more of in the UP, I’m pretty sure it’s car-deer accidents.
There is an argument to be made that we should just stay in Daylight Savings Time, and skip any further changes. And that might be something to talk about. All I know is that living in the UP presents a number of joys and challenges. Being on the edge of two different time zones adds one more, bringing with it the added joy of seeing the best come out in people twice a year.
I’m Jim Koski, and that’s another slice of “Life in the 906.”
