Springing Forward

So one thing many people depend on is a good haircut. I was once voted most consistent hair in the office. If there’s one thing that I HAVE to do everyday it’s do my hair. If you have ever seen me with hair undone, it was probably because I was sick or something or you just saw me before I got a chance to do so. I’m not going to lie, I’m pretty vain. I’m judgmental. When I see someone dressed like a slob, I feel like they’re doing society an injustice. So, as a respect to society I feel like I should dress to the status quo, say please and thank you, and especially do my hair. Today, I had a bad haircut, which brings us to the cultural topic of the week:

DAYLIGHT SAVINGS

Last week I went to Greenwich, where latitude 0 and 360 meet. I, like everyone, stood on the meridian and had my photo taken and thought I was the coolest person alive as I straddled what may or may not actually be the real meridian…the place where time zero actually exist – give or take zero seconds with a margin of error of zero. But even here, in Greenwich Standard time, they have to change the clocks twice a year…

Daylight savings gives the luxury of an extra hour of daylight in the summer so that everyone can take advantage of longer days. The English, because of their undying need to be different, call daylight savings “Summer Time” (not to be confused, with the classic by Ella Fitzgerald), which actually makes sense, but since it’s not a universally recognized name, we won’t get into it. Daylight Savings was originally created so that farmers and other labourers could have longer workdays in the summer months, when the heaviest workload takes place. Since days are longer on both ends, both evening and night, having the sun rise an hour later easily adds on an extra hour to the afternoon. Come mid-July, the days start to become shorter again until the dead of winter.


This year, because of some weird circumstance, North America set their clocks ahead three weeks before Europe, giving the smallest time difference possible. From home, I was only 6 hours ahead (normally 7) and normalcy wasn’t restored until this last weekend. Because of opposing seasons, Eastern Australians are now 11 hours from home, whereas 3 days ago they were a mere 9, but at least they switched over on the same day.

Personally, I think they should one year switch to daylight savings time and just stay there, leaving the sunlight where it belongs – in the afternoon. But that would mean kids would have to go to school in the dark. And I guess when it comes down to it, everyone’s a little bit afraid of the dark.

My flat mates didn’t actually find out about daylight savings time until today (Monday) when they looked at their updated mobile phones at what they believed to be 730, which, of course, was actually one full hour later. Having to work on the weekend, they make it very clear that “yes, this IS the weekend we set the clocks ahead” and because of this, I’ve been in tune with the changes for many years past. Problem with daylight savings switch is that it is mostly done by word of mouth. I realise now that had I not had to work on the weekend, I, like my flat mates would have been completely oblivious to the change. It must be one of the worst publicized events in world.

When I went in for the haircut today I followed normal procedure. I went to the same hairdresser that I usually go to get my £6 haircut. Afterwards, I also walked around in Camden and then made my way home. The hairdresser I had today was from South Africa and thought London was “shit” so I asked him why he didn’t just move. He said he was planning on moving to Bristol and asked if I had ever been there. I said no. Then he cut my bangs shorter than they have ever been, and basically butchered the entire operation.

An average human head has 100 000 hair follicles. Average hair loss is approximately 100 hair per day. Average hair growth is 15 millimeters per month which by my calculations is an average hair growth of 0.0000289mm per hour. What this means is that having a bad haircut on the day after daylight savings means that that’s one hour of hair growth I won’t get back until fall.