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| Clocking in on DST, from the front
lines By Phillip Fiorini, Journal and Courier Phillip Fiorini Those who mess with clocks for a living have a certain perspective on Indiana's ever-present daylight-saving time debate. But their views might not be what most Hoosiers would think. The 92 Indiana counties have the option to petition the U.S. Department of Transportation about whether they would like to remain in their current time zones or prefer switching. While that part of the process heats up, another discussion is coming to a close -- Indiana will be switching to daylight-saving time. The only question now is whether your county will be linked with Chicago or New York next spring. "I don't want it to change, and no one else that I've talked to wants it changed," says Eva Sisson, who helps her son, Scott, run Sisson & Son Jewelry in Flora. "It would create just a lot of utter confusion, so tell Mr. Mitch that." But canceling out that view is her son, who is eager for Indiana to embrace daylight-saving time aligned with the East Coast -- and for reasons one might not expect from a person who has to make time for his shop. "I don't see it creating a whole lot of business for me, but it will help me with my fishing," Scott Sisson says. "I think if it gives me another hour of daylight at night, then I'm all for that." D.C. Chambers, who owns D.C. Clock Shop, also doesn't see the time zone change for Indiana being a boon to his Lafayette business. "It's not going to help my business, because I have all the work I can handle," Chamber says. Yet in a random survey of local clock-watchers, the overwhelming view from the professionals is to change the time on their watches and clocks only when they're broken. In other words, they can't see why Indiana is changing to DST. "I think they need to leave God alone and let the sun come up when it does," says Chambers, who has worked at the clock shop for 15 years and has owned it since 1992. That view is echoed by Martha Chupp, owner of Chupp's Jewelers at 662 Main St. "I like the time the way it is right now. I think it's a good thing not to mess it up," says Chupp, whose shop in downtown Lafayette will mark its 60th birthday on Sept. 12. "Mitch Daniels is having a good time changing things." Even Scott Sisson knows that if Indiana held a referendum on the issue about whether Hoosiers would rather leave their clocks alone, the voting could be mighty close -- although the legislature's decision this spring has made that a moot point. And the same split seems to exist as to whether the majority of Hoosiers want to be aligned with Chicago or New York time. "Many people seem to be resisting it, they don't want to change. And it seems to be a generational thing, too," Scott Sisson says. Then again, he's had a lot of practice setting and
resetting his -- and other people's -- clocks. |
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