The Daily Valet. - 11/6/23, Monday
✔️ Should We Save This?
Monday, November 6th Edition
By Cory Ohlendorf, Valet. Editor
I'm not a fan of this early darkness.
Today’s Big Story
Should We Keep Saving Daylight?
Here's Where the Push to Make Daylight Saving Time Permanent Stands
Get ready to hear it. The complaints about how turning back the clocks messes people up. The jokes about how it feels so much later now that dusk creeps up around 4:45 pm. The practice has long been controversial. A poll by Monmouth University last year found that one in three Americans prefer to continue the biannual clock-resetting process as it stands, but more Americans (around 62%) would prefer to do away with the twice-a-year change.Legislators have previously voiced support to make Daylight Saving Time permanent, but whether that will happen in the future remains in limbo. In March, Sen. Marco Rubio (of Florida) reintroduced the Sunshine Protection Act, a law that would make Daylight Saving Time permanent year round. Although the proposed legislation was first introduced back in 2018, the bill saw the most movement last year, when the Senate passed the bill unanimously. But now legislation to change DST remains in limbo. The bill didn't come up for a vote in the House of Representatives in 2022, and this year's version of the bill hasn't even passed the Senate Committee.Rep. Vern Buchanan (also of Florida) introduced companion legislation in the House in March of this year, which was referred to the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Innovation, Data, and Commerce. But the effort keeps stalling and failing to survive committees. There are also regional differences over who benefits from changing to permanent daylight saving time or standard time. Over the past five years, 19 states have passed bills or resolutions to make daylight saving time year-round. But because they rely on approval from Congress to make the actual change, the practice has not been implemented.Most of us follow the conventional wisdom that farmers are the ones responsible for DST. But the time change is actually a disruptive schedule foisted on them by the federal government. In fact, Benjamin Franklin is the one who first suggested it in the 18th century, after he realized he was wasting his Parisian mornings by staying in bed. Then, the Industrial Revolution laid the groundwork for his idea to enter government policy.The U.S. has been officially observing daylight saving time since 1918, when President Woodrow Wilson signed the Standard Time Act into law under the premise that additional daylight hours could cut energy costs during World War I. Then, almost 50 years later, the Uniform Time Act of 1966 mandated states following daylight saving use the same start and end date. The law means that states cannot use daylight saving year-round unless Congress first votes to change the federal law. In the 1970s, Congress actually did make daylight saving time permanent. But, the decision was reversed in less than a year after the early morning darkness proved dangerous for school children and public sentiment changed.
Dig Deeper:
Besides scheduling stumbles and sleep habit disruptions, experts say the twice-yearly ritual can have more serious effects on human health.
A Month In, Israel-Hamas War Grinds On
Secretary of State Blinken shuttles from the West Bank to Iraq trying to contain the fallout from the Fighting
We're coming up on the one-month mark since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, when at least 1,400 people were killed. Since then, Israel has launched a complete siege and near round-the-clock air, ground and sea assaults in Gaza in respone. The Israel Defense Forces claims it has thus far killed 10 Hamas commanders responsible for the attacks. Gaza health officials there say more than 9,700 have died. Israel says Hamas is still holding 241 people hostage.There appears to be no end in sight to the nearly month-old war as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to reject calls for any kind of cease-fire. High-ranking U.S. officials have been pushing for Hamas to release hostages, including Americans. They've also urged Israel to more finely target its attacks and to pause strikes to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza. Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to Ramallah on Sunday to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, marking the highest-level visit by a U.S. official to the West Bank since the initial attack.Blinken later flew to Baghdad for talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani as American forces in the region face a surge of attacks by Iranian-allied militias in Iraq and elsewhere. A U.S. official told the Associated Press that American forces shot down another one-way attack drone Sunday that was targeting American and coalition troops near their base in neighboring Syria.
FYI:
CIA director Bill Burns is visiting Israel and other countries in the region this week for talks on the war in Gaza and the efforts to release hostages held by Hamas.
Gen Z Shakes Up the American Workplace
Some say they're forcing a workplace reckoning that should have happened years ago
The labor force's youngest members are revamping the workplace with internet speak, attention to well-being and uncanny realness ... and it's got a lot of people (in and out of the office) talking. For instance, punctuation in messages to colleagues is out. Talking about mental health at work is in. Over 80% of Gen Z employees in a survey conducted by Deloitte said mental health support and policies are important to them when considering an employer.They also have greater comfort “blending the way they can communicate with their friends and their co-workers,” one strategist told Axios. For instance, unlike some older colleagues, Gen Z has embraced salary sharing. They use this information to hold their employers accountable. They're also pushing for everything from a better work-life balance to different hours to a four-day workweek. Business Insider says that workers across generations are benefitting from some of the questions Gen Z has been asking.That is, if they even want to work at your traditional workplace. The majority of young workers no longer dream of “finding the perfect job” working for someone else. Instead, they aspire to become an entrepreneur or start their own business. According to CNBC, many see becoming an entrepreneur as the most accessible career to achieve all of these things.
Dig Deeper:
Forbes unravels the enigma of the Gen Z worker and says that managers need to start reframing the way they think about traits that seem unusual to them.
DoorDash Issues a Tipping Warning
No Tip for Your Delivery Driver? Then Be Prepared to Wait.
Tipping has become a sore subject for all involved. What sort of services merit a tip? How much is considered a “good” tip? The debates are endless and nuanced, and thanks to DoorDaash, they're about to get a little more heated.The Wall Street Journal reports that DoorDash has been alerting customers, specifically those who do not tip, that its delivery Dashers choose their own assignments and might not want to take on the deliveries of those who don't include a gratuity. In other words, this group of customers may not get their order as speedily as those who do provide a tip, because fewer Dashers will be vying to make those deliveries. The company also claimed that the test will not affect “DoorDash's commitment to quality or how orders are fulfilled,” and customers will always have the option not to tip.The move comes a few months after a viral video showed a former Dasher who was offended by a tip and yelled an expletive at the customer at her home. But it makes you think ... pre-tipping is a strange concept, isn't it? No one in the U.S. would tip a server as soon as they enter a restaurant. However, having a meal brought to your doorstep deserves gratuity regardless of whether the food is high-quality or not ... let alone the fact that there are delivery service charges already involved. And it makes sense that drivers would be more motivated to quickly fulfill a delivery if they knew they were being tipped ahead of time. (Of course, some customers opt to give a cash tip, but it's not guaranteed.)
Meanwhile:
A high-end “canine cucina” has opened in Rome for highfalutin dogs and their owners.
In Other News
Voters in battleground states said they trusted him over Biden on the economy, foreign policy and immigration.
Have you heard about ...
Your November Reading List
Some rich picks for your holiday travel reading
November has some really good books coming out, so let me make a few recommendations to help you kickstart your reading this month. They range from a wild science fiction-tinged dystopian thriller to a historical look back at the many controversies of American show business.
By: Salar AbdohOut: Nov. 7
Abdoh's brutally poignant novel explores the contradictions in modern Iranian society. When a young man is abruptly deported back to Tehran after a decade in the United States, he sees his former homeland with fresh eyes.
By: Naomi Alderman Out: Nov. 7
One of the most-anticipated books of the fall, this novel is set in a near-future apocalypse where only the wealthiest people—tech oligarchs who control everything from weapons to the weather—are safe. But an unlikely group of friends embark on an intrepid mission to take them down.
By: Gabriel Bump Out: Nov. 14
Following the death of their infant daughter, grieving parents and Black academics Rio and Gibraltar decide to start a utopian society. But the tensions both internal and external soon threaten their dream and this newfound sanctuary.
By: Kliph Nesteroff Out: Nov. 28
From the preeminent historian of modern comedy comes an expansive history of showbiz and the culture wars. It examines the relationship between entertainment and suppression by looking at the success and censorship that plagued everyone from Elvis to Carol Burnett.
Shopping
What We’re Buying
A rowing machine
Ready to move your workouts indoors? A smart alternative for anyone who has achy joints or needs to avoid consistent impact on the knees or ankles, rowing not only builds muscle and strips fat, but it dials up your overall fitness and endurance with a full-body workout. And the new Ergatta Lite ($1,799 / $1,499) is not only made from locally-sourced oak wood, it's lighter (and more affordable) than the original. Plus, there's a 30-day risk free trial so you've really got nothing to lose.
Want more?
The five stylish items you should be buying this week.
Morning Motto
You don’t have to do it all at once.
▾
Follow:
Share today’s motto:
