As a followup to my piece yesterday about people who whine every time we begin or end daylight saving time, Bob Robinson emails:
From January 1985 until March 1988 I lived in Minot, ND. It was my last assignment in the Air Force. About 90 miles south of Minot are Bismarck and Mandan, ND. Bismarck is on the east side of the Missouri river, while Mandan is on the west side. The dividing line between Central and Mountain time runs down the middle of the river. So, if you live in Mandan and work in Bismarck (which can be as short as a 15 minute drive), you have to leave home at 6:40 to be on time for work if your work day starts at 8:00. If you have a meeting in Mandan at 10:00 you can wait until 10:40 to leave for it and still be on time. Those who complain about the twice-yearly time change could never live there!
I always wondered how bizarre it is for anyone who lives on a time-zone divider like that — or near the line between places that do and don’t observe Daylight Saving Time. Bob’s story is a great example. In the end, those folks get used to it, so why can’t everyone else?