What time is it?

Hey - if you don't live in Indiana, you may find this amusing.

In Indiana we do not change our clocks in the spring nor in the fall.
In the winter we are on New York Time.
In the Summer, we are on Chicago Time.

Problem? If Indiana were an island, it would not be a problem. Since Indiana is not an island, social and economic hassles arise from this inconsistancy.

Perhaps the State of Indiana should launch a study. I would be happy to conduct it for a modest fee of say, $20,000. I would measure the distance from Indiana to Chicago. Then I would measure the distance from Indiana to New York City. Based on this data, I would offer a suggestion as to which time zone we should consistantly observe.

Why is this important? If you say that it is important to the farmers, you are wrong. Crops will soak up the same amount of sunshine even if the sun rose at midnight (local time)! This is important for MONEY! Let's say you own a big company and you want to put a factory somewhere in the USA. This factory will employ thousands of workers and it will do business with other businesses around the USA and the world. You'd want to put your company in a place where transportation is good, where the local work ethic is good and in a location close to Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati, etc. Your factory would routinely be doing business with other companies within the midwest and around the world. Wouldn't it be convenient for your customers and for your suppliers (and for you) to have your business located in a part of the country where the local time remains consistantly relative to the rest of the USA?

Here's another point. I live in Illinois. I work in Indiana. In the Summer, I live and work in the same time zone. Eastern Standard Time is the same as Central Daylight Time. In the winter there is an hour's difference between my home and my work. This means that it takes me an hour and a half to get to work, but a negative half hour to get home.

I say this is dumb, but it's something I can get used to because of my career...I have no choice. The consumer has a choice. If you live in Illinois and you get off work at 5PM CST, it's already 6PM in Indiana (EST). A retail business in Illinois would more likely be open and would be a more convenient choice for you. The Illinois business owner knows this and is able (sometimes) to charge more money for the same merchandise. To summerize, the Indiana business owner loses your business and the Illinois consumer mays more.

1 comment:

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