clock change

November 2, 2026

Another Monday morning. We set the clocks back yesterday. They keep talking about not having to do that anymore, and then we keep on doing it. I think it is kind of pointless in a world that never sleeps. We have a lot of lights that are nearly as bright as the sun. Some wealthy fucking idiots are even launching mirrors into space now that reflect the sun back to earth in the night.

Changing the clocks makes me think back many years to when I was a teenager. I had a friend who had parents that were better off than my parents were. They were a blue collar family like my family, but they had jobs that paid a lot more. My friend always had nicer things, lived in a bigger house, and his parents went away a lot. We would spend the night there when his parents were gone for the weekend. Sometimes it was just us two boys, and other times it would be three four of us. We would hang out and smoke cigarettes while watching movies, or listening to music. Occasionally we would have beer that older boys had bought for us.

One night there was three of us spending the night when the rest of the family were away. The guy who lived there did what he always did, and went to sleep first. Then it was just me and another boy left awake in that big house. I guess we got bored sitting on the couch in the rec room smoking cigarettes. We started exploring the other rooms.

I don't know what the hell I was thinking, but suddenly I thought it would be funny if we turned every clock in the house back an hour. It was the middle of summer. The other guy that was still awake with me thought that was hilarious, and was totally into it. So we did it. Then we just went back to the couch and watched more television.

I sat there feeling guilty about it. Kept picturing the Monday morning everyone was going to have if no one noticed we had done that. My friend, his brother and sister would all miss the bus. His mom and dad would have both been late for work. His father was so mean, and a heavy drinker. He would have lost it. When my mind went down that path I also started to be scared as well as guilty. Then, feeling kind of stupid, I looked at my friend and said, 'we should really put them back.' He was apparently feeling the same way. Without hesitation we ran around setting them back again. No one knows that we did that. Well, until right now I guess.