# Fwd: \[OT} DST - was Re: How can my boss take rails seriously **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [October 25, 2006, 3:47am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/fwd-ot-dst-was-re-how-can-my-boss-take-rails-seriously/73537 "2006-10-25T03:47:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![hopscotch](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/h/3be4f8/32.png) [@hopscotch](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/hopscotch)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2006, 3:47am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/fwd-ot-dst-was-re-how-can-my-boss-take-rails-seriously/73537/1 "2006-10-25T03:47:39Z")
Not sure about the US, but in the UK, the original reason for a BST (British Summer Time) change was so that farm workers had more daylight hours - don’t know why the US calls it Daylight Savings Time though. These days as we have so few farmers/farm workers left in the UK, that reason is no longer applicable, so now we have the following reasons trotted out every time someone mentions abolishing it: 1 - tradition - the ‘we’ve always done it’ argument 2 - children walking home from school should be in daylight - hard to argue with that - except 90% of schoolkids are driven to/from school in air-conditioned SUV’s and couldn’t care less about whether it’s light or dark 3 - saves electricity - this one is actually true - I’ve seen the data of the electricity consumption just before BST and after the change and the difference changing the clocks makes is remarkable (basically as you have more daylight, you use the lights less - although it doesn’t make sense really as you will use them later, the usage of electricity is actually lower - suprised me) Anyway, the electricity savings are real (at least the numbers I’ve seen), and given the political ramifications of reducing energy consumption (right now), don’t expect any politician to advocate something that could potentially use more power… Kev ---
**Author:** ![hopscotch](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/h/3be4f8/32.png) [@hopscotch](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/hopscotch)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2006, 3:51am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/fwd-ot-dst-was-re-how-can-my-boss-take-rails-seriously/73537/2 "2006-10-25T03:51:39Z")
Kevin J. wrote: > 2 - children walking home from school should be in daylight - hard to > Anyway, the electricity savings are real (at least the numbers I’ve > seen), and given the political ramifications of reducing energy > consumption (right now), don’t expect any politician to advocate > something that could potentially use more power… > > Kev Actually, IIRC it originated (here in the US, at any rate) during WWII as an energy saving measure. I think it was all year round, or maybe one hour in the winter and two hours in the summer.