By Beverly Gadson-Birch

  This Daylight Savings Time sure has me singing the blues.  What a difference one hour makes.  The youth seems to adjust pretty well; they just sleep through everything.  If you belong to the baby boomer area (that's a nice name for seniors) you don't sleep that much anymore.  Senior bodies are already time sensitive.  We sometimes brag about waking up without a clock.  What the heck do we need a clock for  or even a watch for that matter?  Do we really have to go anywhere?  And if we do, does time really matter? I can think of only a couple of occassions when time really matters and I will share them with you. 

  Time matters if you are going to the doctor because most doctors are already maxed out with senior patients.  Most of us have been going to the same doctor for at least 50 years and they know us by now.  We figure the doctor is going to be late anyhow so why do we need to be on time? He'll just fit us in, right?  Doctor knows we are going to be late; not only are we going to be late, we are going to miss appointments.  You can blame that on the aging process.  Young people dread going to a doctor, not us seniors. We look forward to going there because that is the one place we can meet up with our peers.  We prepare for the day by loading up our grandchldren or pet pictures.  Incidentally, our pet is just as old as us and they go to the doctor more than us but that is a story for another day.  Yep, we are bound to meet someone we know at the doctor's office; and, even if we don't know anyone when we arrive we will know someone before we leave.  There is always someone who will strike up a conversation with you just so they can  pull out their wallet or flip phone with a thousand baby or pet pictures to share with you. Thank goodness they did away with those bag phones, we would not have the strength to carry them.  Oh, for y'all high tech seniors, I know y'all got your Androids and I-Pads that you try to impress folks with as you scroll through your picures.  So, we do carry our pictures in anticipation of some of those old geezers we meet.  Isn't it strange how we always think the persons we meet are older or look older than we do?

  Daylight Savings Time is the bomb?  Why do we need more daylight?  Most of us get up before the sun comes up and goes to bed before it goes down.  And when it gets dark, we have specs to help us find our way.  I ask you again, what the heck do we need more daylight for?  Once we get back from the doctor's office, that's the highlight of our day.  Lord bless my deceased mother but that lady used to dress up just to go to the doctor.  Then she would parade around and ask me "how do I look?"  How does my hair look?  Does this shoe go with my outfit?  And, I am thinking, who cares.  You are just going to the doctor's office. Who the heck is looking at you anyway?  I would say mom you are just going to the doctor but she could care less.  That was her one day outside of church to look good and get out of the house.  Now, wait up y'all!  It's my time.  I find myself doing the same thing.

  Time matters if you are going to church. Now, let's get to Daylight Savings Time and 8:00 AM church service.  If 8:00 AM wasn't early enough, now they expect seniors to get to church on time.  I don't know about y'all but I could barely get there on the old time. Now, with this new time, it is really 7:00 AM. which means I have to get up at 5:00 AM to get to church by8:00 AM.  My body knows the hour difference.  I have good intentions Reb but you have to allow for seniors like me being late. The old grey mare ain't what she used to be.  It takes us longer to get ready.  We get up and sit on the side of the bed for awhile while we convince our bodies to get moving. We have to say a little prayer, eat a little something to take our medications, shower up, dress up, find our glasses, our Bible,  get our tithes from under the mattress, find some mint candy and snacks before we can even think of leaving home. By the time we are through getting everything together, we have to make one las tpit stop (restroom) and off we go.  Are y'all feeling me yet?   Once we get to church we do all right while the choir is singing but once  they stop we find ourselves nodding off.  Reb, we, seniors,  don't mean any disrespect, it's this stupid Daylight Savings Time.  Maybe, we would do better if we attended the second service.   I don't know about y'all but by the time I get through with my morning rituals,I am worn out and it is almost time for the second service.   I might as well just wait and go then. 

  Whoever came up with Daylight Savings Time did not think this thing through carefully.  Did they think about the impact on seniors?  No sooner than our bodies adjust to this new time, it is time to change the time back.  Some of us never set our clocks up or back anyway.  We operate on old age time.  We are not in a hurry. We don't have any of those gadgets that automatically set the time from Standard to Daylight Savings Time.  Most of the seniors I know just say the heck with it.  It is too much trouble setting our clocks, stove and computers one hour ahead just to have to set it back in a few months. In the meantime, Standard time is good enough for us until our children come home for a visit.  Y'all know the MBA'S & PHD'S who can't stand to see their parents caught up between time.   So, y'all just excuse me if I am late.  Late means on time to me.