Daylight saving time started March 9, allowing us to enact a long-cherished tradition that many people anxiously anticipate each spring. At the end of every winter, we show our reverence and devotion to the sun by setting all of our clocks, watches, alarms and microwaves one hour in advance. Though some people shamefully forget and end up being late at the beginning of this week, most reasonable people should be able to agree that observing daylight saving time is beneficial to everyone and everything.

Changing our time based upon the season was initially proposed by Benjamin Franklin as a joke in a satirical 1784 essay as a way to save candle wax. Like most satire, it was useless and forgettable. Daylight savings time as we know it is actually the brainchild of a wise Englishman named William Willett in a 1907 essay entitled “Waste of Daylight.” He knew that we should be taking some of the “wasted daylight” from the beginning of the day when no one was enjoying it and add it to the end when everyone could use it. Additionally, he stated that it is very annoying to be woken up by the rising sun, and that such issues cannot be solved by just waking up earlier.

Willett was wise before his time, and it took some years for his idea to actually come into use. At the beginning of the 20th century, Germany was a leader in taking bold actions. Accordingly, it was the first nation to enact daylight saving time in 1916. With Germany as a role model, the United Kingdom and the United States shortly followed. There have been a few inconsistencies since then, but eventually the system we use today was created and is now loved by practically everyone.

Though daylight saving time is used in various parts of the world, some people question the benefits of it. There are even some extremists who argue that its practice should be abolished. Here in the United States, Arizona — still commonly considered to be the lawless Wild West — has not yet created laws that require its use. Hawaii is also apparently unaware that daylight saving time is seriously convenient and should be vigorously enforced upon everyone.

Despite the failure of these governments to force their citizens to use daylight saving time, most of us in the United States are fortunate enough to experience the benefits of its practice throughout the year. Though it does not really save any energy, and is not actually useful to farmers, it surely gives us more fresh sunshine to enjoy. Sunlight makes us simply be better people, act less lazy and feel prettier. When it’s light outside, we do more of the things we enjoy; things like cranking up our air conditioner or taking a nice, long drive to go get snow cones.

As humans, we are obviously aware of the way time works. When we manipulate it twice a year by altering the structure of the universe, all other living things remain clueless, giving us an advantage. Daylight saving time also forces the sun to get up earlier for part of the year, which ensures it does not go into solar hibernation. Finally, and most amazingly, it allows us to travel through time. In the fall, we literally go back to 2:00 a.m. — an hour after it already occurred. Simply astounding.

Daylight saving time is something everyone can look forward to; we all enjoy “springing forward” during this time of year and then laughing at the people who forgot to set their alarms and show up late. Honestly, it is a shame that we only get to observe the wondrous creation of daylight saving time twice a year. In the end, changing our clocks is not only a sign that summer is coming, but it is also truly a sign of the progress we have made as a human race.