The Daily Valet. - 11/5/21, Friday

✔️ The Fall Back Is Coming

November 05, 2021

Friday, November 5th Edition

Cory Ohlendorf, Editor in Chief of Valet.

Spotify only uses listening history until October to generate the year-in-review. Let those guilty pleasures fly!

Cory Ohlendorf, Editor ⋯ @coryohlendorf

Today’s edition is presented by

Today’s Big Story

The Fall Back Is Coming

Let’s talk about Daylight Saving’s dark side

On Sunday, most of us will fall back an hour and kickstart the decades-old discussion of why we shift time twice a year. The switch means brighter mornings, but also darkness before dinner.

Did you know only about 70 countries in the world recognize Daylight Saving time? Even in the United States there’s no cohesion around the concept; Arizona and Hawaii don’t make the switch. And the debate over DST—which was first enacted by the federal government during World War I as a way to conserve coal—has picked up momentum in recent years.

Currently, 19 states have enacted legislation to provide for year-round daylight saving. But despite that, a switch would require a literal act of Congress. Under federal law, states are allowed to opt out of DST and remain on standard time, but are not allowed to remain on daylight time.

The Department of Transportation, which is in charge of daylight saving time, says the practice saves energy, prevents traffic accidents and curbs crime. But sleep experts told USA Today the health effects of losing sleep eclipses the value.

It’s hard to believe one hour can cause that big of a problem, but according to one neuroscientist who studies the phenomenon, “We lose our ability to regulate blood sugar. Lipid levels go up. We become hungry when we’re not really hungry. Lots of signaling mechanisms are influenced by disruption of our clocks. And just that one-hour disruption is enough to actually trigger these problems.”

Of course, DST is a moneymaker—so American logic would tell us it ain’t going anywhere anytime soon. Most of us are unaware that the biggest lobby on behalf of daylight saving since 1915 in this country—and to this very day—is the Chamber of Commerce. “They understood something very early on,” one expert told LAist. “If you give workers daylight, when they leave their jobs, they are much more apt to stop and shop on their way home.”

↦ FYI: When Congress held hearings on extending DST in the ‘80s, golf industry officials said the extra month of daylight saving was “worth $200 million in additional sales of golf clubs and greens fees.”

What’s Up With Ridesharing?

Prices are still way up, so Uber is bringing back carpooling

Uber is preparing to relaunch its carpooling service as a way to combat price increases, reports The Verge. Uber Pool was shuttered in March 2020 in response to the pandemic and remained so even as vaccines became widely available and customers returned to the app.

But that could soon change, according to the company's CEO, who hinted that a new shared rides product could be released soon. Along with its rival Lyft, Uber has been struggling to recover from the pandemic, as drivers fled the platform, wait times increased and the cost of rides soared.

A recent pair of studies suggests even the investor-subsidized prices don't tell the whole story, with costs being pushed onto drivers and communities.

This op-ed by the New York Times' Greg Bensinger, meticulously outlines how piece by piece, the mythology around ridesharing seems to be falling apart. These companies promised “ubiquitous self-driving cars as soon as this year. They promised an end to private car ownership,” he writes. “They promised to reduce congestion in the largest cities. They promised consistently affordable rides.” But none of that has gone as promised. Will the rideshare bubble need to burst in order to reinvent itself?

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Too Good to Be True?

Shoppers rave about Buy Now, Pay Later apps, but you have to be careful

“Buy now, pay later” (also known as BNPL) has become an incredibly popular payment tool among young consumers—replacing standard bank credit cards. And this year, the largest retailers, from Amazon to Target, are adapting to the trendy payment option for the holiday shopping season.

More than half of all consumers plan to use BNPL in the next year, which is really good news for merchants. According to CNBC, shoppers tend to spend more per purchase when they use the services. Research firm Kaleido Intelligence estimates that by 2025, global consumers will have nearly doubled the amount of money they spend using buy now, pay later services to $680 billion.

But while many customers rave about the ease and transparency of interest-free offers from Affirm, Afterpay and Klarna, some shoppers have found that these services come with surprise fees and a long slog to recoup money owed to them after a refund—if they receive a refund at all.

A recent national survey of nearly 3,500 adults found that one in five Americans made a purchase using a BNPL service or app. But it also found that one in six regretted doing so—citing high interest rates, minimal options to build their credit, or simply having bought things they couldn't really afford.

↦ Dig Deeper: We compared the top four services against a standard credit card to see if they're worth it and how they stack up.

Your Weekend Pairing

Big Mouth + a Youth & Treachery Cocktail

In the midst of such unprecedented times, it's almost comforting to think there's a cartoon that can shock you. Because that's where we are and that's just what Big Mouth does—shocks you in the best “holy sh!t, did they really just say/do/show that?” way. And despite being an Emmy-winning show, I can't believe it's made it to season five. But it has and starts streaming today on Netflix.

The gang returns to Bridgeton Middle School for a season of romantic love triangles, embarrassing moments and inexplicable (and often inappropriate) musical numbers. The Ringer says the show embraces the coming of age process “zits and all, taking a time of life practically defined by crippling shame and approaching it in precisely the opposite spirit—one of openness, candor and even celebration.” And according to Collider, the show has become so popular that it's already been picked up for season six. So sit back, relax and get ready to laugh ... and wince.

↦ Your Pairing:What a great name for a cocktail to complement this wild show. Even better than the moniker is the easy-sipping taste. DIfford's Guide calls it a white Negroni riff—swapping the gin for tequila. A twist of lemon peel makes it all the more refreshing.

In Other News

↦ U.S. Mandates Vaccines or Tests for Big Companies by Jan. 4th

↦ The Senate Confirmed the 1st Latino to Lead the U.S. Census, Robert Santos

↦ Breakups Hit Men Harder Than Women, According to Science

Other Things We’re Talking About Today

The average cost of a new car

Fuzzy style logic

Paul Newman’s secret memoir

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What We Want

You've got to appreciate pants that are appropriate for the office and WFH. Everlane's new “double-knit elastic pant” might have a scientific name, but the look and feel is stylish and easygoing. Tailored with a nice tapered leg, there's a single pleat stitched into the smooth, wrinkle-resistant fabric, which is finished with a comfy elastic waistband. But just to make sure they're comfortable, consider sizing up—they still look sharp when worn a bit relaxed.

↦ Get It: Double-knit pants, $78 by Everlane