Summer Time! (finally)
Gentle Reader,
We in Europa will be making the spring ahead timewise this weekend, springing into what is known here as Summer Time (Sommerzeit), the European equivalent of American Daylight Savings Time. We have resisted the temptation to widen the boundaries of summer time as the American Congress ordained for their citizenry. I read an article about one of the hidden reasons for the increase being the increase in shopping during extended evening dailylight hours. It figures that it would be something as base as that. I remember the official party line being that the Americans could have more evening leisure hours of daylight; I guess this leisure needs to involve consumption in order to keep the ball rolling. In this humble blogger's honest opinion, it will take a bit more than playing with the clock to get the American, and indeed the official globalized economy back on track.
What does this time change mean for me personally? Well, here in Germany we do not see a large increase in shopping, as the hours for shopping are set by government regulation, but there is an general increase in one of my favorite pastimes, beer drinking, which occurs as the days get longer and warmer. The beer gardens will be opening soon, inviting the public to enjoy a refreshing libation and perhaps a snack at the orderly tables under the chestnut trees. Raise a glass with me then, and let's drink to longer drinking hours. It's something to bank on in these troubling times. Prost!
We in Europa will be making the spring ahead timewise this weekend, springing into what is known here as Summer Time (Sommerzeit), the European equivalent of American Daylight Savings Time. We have resisted the temptation to widen the boundaries of summer time as the American Congress ordained for their citizenry. I read an article about one of the hidden reasons for the increase being the increase in shopping during extended evening dailylight hours. It figures that it would be something as base as that. I remember the official party line being that the Americans could have more evening leisure hours of daylight; I guess this leisure needs to involve consumption in order to keep the ball rolling. In this humble blogger's honest opinion, it will take a bit more than playing with the clock to get the American, and indeed the official globalized economy back on track.
What does this time change mean for me personally? Well, here in Germany we do not see a large increase in shopping, as the hours for shopping are set by government regulation, but there is an general increase in one of my favorite pastimes, beer drinking, which occurs as the days get longer and warmer. The beer gardens will be opening soon, inviting the public to enjoy a refreshing libation and perhaps a snack at the orderly tables under the chestnut trees. Raise a glass with me then, and let's drink to longer drinking hours. It's something to bank on in these troubling times. Prost!
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