It’s the time of year where each day almost has equal daylight hours as with night. When the time change occurs, mistakes can easily occur.
Some years ago, in 1990, I went to visit my mother on a Sunday evening around 5 p.m. As I got closer to the house, I saw my twin sisters and little brother standing at the edge of the driveway. They had their school backpacks over their shoulders. They waved with excitement when they saw me. After I got out of the car, they came running.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“We’re waiting for the bus,” they replied.
“It’s Sunday,” I said.
“No, it’s not!” one of the twins said.
My first wife laughed at them. “Yes, it is.”
“No, it’s Monday. Why are you here so early?” my sister asked.
“It’s Sunday,” I repeated.
This circular argument continued for several minutes until our mother came outside. She smiled and asked, “What are you doing here so early?”
Again, I tried to explain that it was Sunday and not Monday. She looked confused for a moment and then she adamantly insisted that it was Monday. By now, I was wondering if I were wrong.
Finally, I suggested that someone go in the house and turn on the television to see what television shows were on. “60 Minutes should be on,” I said.
They went inside and turned on the television. The Sunday evening shows were on.
My mother shook her head. “We were exhausted when we got home this afternoon, so we all took naps. When I awoke and looked at the clock, I thought we had slept through the night.”
I was relieved that it was Sunday, but for about ten minutes or so, I thought maybe I had been wrong. It was the strangest episode of cognitive dissonance I had ever experienced.
Have any of you ever gotten so confused about the time or what day it was? Did you ever forget to set your clocks back or forward? At least computers today and the Internet have ways to remind us. Back in 1990, that luxury didn’t exist.
