Finding the Munchie Mart closed when I was in desperate search of caffeine angered me. Why had they closed so early - it was only 10 p.m. Returning to my room, I found it wasn't 10 p.m.; it was 11:30 p.m.
Yesterday afternoon I woke from a nap and panicked, thinking I had missed dinner; it was not even 5 p.m. I don't blame stress, school, ill health or lack of sleep - I blame Nashville for being in the Central time zone.
People in northern climates must adjust to the very short days of winter. Nashville, which is relatively far south, could avoid sunset times at 4:30 p.m. Time zone lines are arbitrary - there is no reason why Nashville should be in an inappropriate time zone as it is now.
A map of U.S. time zone divisions shows an odd eastern jut in the central time zone, encompassing Nashville (36 degrees 10 minutes north latitude and 86 degrees 47 minutes west longitude) but leaving out Louisville, Ky. (38 degrees 2 minutes north latitude and 85 degrees 8 minutes west longitude), which lies only slightly farther east than Nashville. According to the U.S. Naval Observatory, on Eastern time, Louisville's sunset time today is 5:35 p.m. - which, discounting the time-zone change - is almost the exact same as Nashville's 4:33 p.m. The two-minute difference stems mainly from the north-south difference, not the two-degree east-west difference.
Then, compare Nashville and Claremont, Okla. (36 degrees 3 minutes north latitude and 95 degrees 6 minutes west longitude), also in the Central time zone. The sun sets in Claremont today at 5:18 p.m. - 45 minutes after Nashville's sunset time. Granted the line must be drawn somewhere, but it seems from looking at the map and sunset times that Nashville belongs with the East.
Whether an hour of daylight is at the beginning or end of the day may seem unimportant. However, considering that more people are awake to appreciate daylight between 4:30 and 5:30 p.m. rather than 6:20 and 7:20 a.m., it seems reasonable that hour should be at the "end of the day" rather than the beginning.
More importantly, the skewed daylight hours create more of a problem than just an inconvenience. Melatonin in the brain regulates sleep cycles based on presence of light. When it gets dark, hormone levels change, signaling the body to go to sleep. The late afternoon nap becomes even more irresistible in the winter because that is when it gets dark. As the hours of darkness drag on, without going to sleep, 10:30 p.m. could feel like 2 a.m. If Nashville were in the Eastern zone, then this hormone change would be delayed, helping us stay alert for longer.
Would it really be that hard to change to the Eastern time zone? We switch back and forth an hour twice a year for daylight-saving time without much effort or confusion. Changing to the Eastern time zone would be just like going to permanent daylight-saving time.
Perhaps I blame Nashville's place in the Central time zone for my tiredness more than is reasonable. However, until we find more time to sleep or until we move Vanderbilt to the equator with 12 hours of daylight all year-round, the time zone is the only thing we can change.
